Extras

In some stories, there are extras in the scene

People on the side who flicker in and out

There to fill out the background of the screen

Doing there own thing, just walking about

If they're good extras, they react to events

Show the opportunity or danger of a situation

Acting without any sort of pretence

To allow you time for pause and hesitation

But here's the thing, life doesn't work like that

In real life, the rules of the screen fall flat

People don't behave in the way their supposed to

Of course, that rule is true for you too

So take a second and recognise the extras in your story

And think to yourself "they are not there for me"

They've got their own hopes and ambitions and dreams

That cause them to react with their cheers or screams

So make sure you acknowledge them as the people they are

Even if your interaction is brief and doesn't take you far

Maybe they'll become a more major character to you

And realise that you are not just an extra in their story too.

Post for new readers

Hi! Welcome to my poetry blog friend.

In 2013 I made a new year's resolution to write a poem a week. Because I'm bad at quitting things, I'm still going. This has lead to me having too many poems.

So, here's a suggestion of a few cool poems to read. I also have a "10 best" post I do at the end of each year, so if you like these then that's a cool place to look next (search the "End of Year" tag). :)

If you ever want to hear an audio version of any poems, I'm slowly recording them over at https://anchor.fm/dashboard. Alternatively, I'm always happy to do a performance for people.

Also, if you ever have any questions or thoughts about any poem, no matter how old, then I love to be messaged to chat about them. I have lots of others I enjoy, and I am always happy to perform a recording of a poem for anyone. But these are the some that I figure serve as a good introduction to my work (and aren't overly long). Hope you enjoy them!

A short and sweet poem about poetic inspiration - Poem Catcher
A poem expressing my amazement for my bilingual friends - Another Tongue

A poem about personal bravery - Brave

A poem about the hectic pace we tend to approach life - Is Life a Race or a Dance?
A poem about the beauty in weirdness (and one of my first poems!) - Monsters
A poem about enjoying the moment - If Today

We've been through hardship before

We've been through hardship before,
        as humans, I mean.

I know some, well, maybe most of it was self-inflicted
        but there's still goodness to glean

In some of the plagues of days gone by
        we survived by sacrifice

Villages working for a collective good
        through an elder's advice

In times of war, we banded together
        the young volunteered their future

The smartest gals and guys we knew
        invented things like the computer

So now, in present day, just look around
        take note of what you see

The long hours. The struggle to succeed.
        all to help all of humanity

The nurses, the shopworkers, the careworkers    
        more professions than I can go through

As well as every person who has stayed safe and distant
        it's thanks to you too!

And I know it's tiring, that you have fatigue
        when you forget what it's all for

Just know that, eventually, we will succeed
        just like with the hardship before

Audio Mission Statement

So, here we go again. Another mission statement. The audio version of this statement (along with the rest of the podcasts) can be found at anchor.fm/harryisapoet, or on spotify.

Here's the quick version - I'm planning on trying to record my whole back catalogue on a semi-regular basis as a podcast. Probably one/two a week - I'll update this once I get going and figure things out.

I've been wanting to do this for a while. After all, if I have a choice of performing one of my poems for someone or sending them a written link, I'll pick performing every time. And this was less work than making them videos (which is still a future aim).

So, here we go. Another poetry adventure. I'll still be writing a fresh weekly poems  over at harryisapoet.blogspot.com. I've also made a facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/harryisapoet/) that will automatically post my new written poems, and hopefully will be set up to post my new podcast too.

A small extra note. For the next podcasts, I will record the poem, then I'll add any extra thoughts/context at the end. Some small insight into how I was feeling, or any way I would differ in approaching the subject now. In this statement though, it feels right to end again with (a slightly abridged version of the) Ira Glass quote that helped start me on this journey way back in January 2013.

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

Statement over. If you're still with me, I look forward to the journey over the coming weeks.

Signed,
A somehow still naïve Harry, who is now a little more certain than seven years ago that he can call himself a poet.

The Difficulty of Not Putting Off Important Tasks

Past the point of pontification

He holds in his heart no hesitation

STRIKE! STRIKE NOW!

Ready he's ready to begin flexion

Finally found his focus and fixation

DO IT! DO! IT!

More time has tumbled to this decision

He has to act to avoid any derision

SO CLOSE!

Almost there it's tantalising ambition

The fates decree this is the end to his mission

...

He can't do it. Thwarted once more.

The cost of this loss shakes him to his core.

He shakes his head, closes the laptop, and walks away.

Falsely convincing himself he'll click "send" on that email another day.

Resisting Apathy

It's odd what happens, when shocking images are paraded before us

Don't get me wrong, initially there's no way they bore us
We feel all the emotions a human should feel

We are shocked and mortified, our sadness is real

Life is depressing, we lose faith in humanity

Questions rise regarding our planet's sanity

Even though we know the validity of these horrors to be correct

We push them to one side and build a disconnect

We don't let ourselves dwell, and move subtly on

Forgetting these kids were all daughters and sons

It would traumatise us, if we were to constantly dwell

On one of those times humanity turned Earth into Hell

And yet, we find the world still spins

We've paid our dues and move on with things

"It's not right, but what do you want us to do?

They've already lost their lives should we lose our minds too?"

We've forgotten, moved on, ready to be shocked the next time

We decide to relearn of humanity's crimes

Relearn how the world became bitter and frayed

Relearn of the sacrifice so many had made

But a similar struggle exists for many today

Even if we stop watching, atrocities don't go away

We still find ourselves far from a united Earth

We've still committing atrocities over resources and turf

It's tough, but you can't let the reaction of apathy tie you down

You can't just walk away, even if you walk wearing a frown

You see, though you walk away, there's millions who were unable

So you ahve to remember this as more than a fable

Avoid hyperbole - remember the trauma that was actually there

It's your duty to do more than briefly show you care

Be aware of what happened, hold it close in your heart as

motivation for those who became unwilling martyrs

Live a life stronger, as a voice for the voiceless

You can make decisions, fate is not choiceless

There is more than just the façade humanity likes to portray

We are not yet at peace, we can fight for that day

History books of the future will tell the present's tale

About how we reacted, and on what scale

Did we take heed? Did we try to learn?

Did we step back to help the world burn?

Or did we take steps we haven't taken before

And say that, finally, we will take this no more

We are more the same than different, all human this day

Let's finally change, and not walk away.

***

This was an old poem I found, reflecting on how we all seem to care about to Holocaust for a couple choice days a year and then forget things. Since it wasn't on here, I wanted to make sure I recorded it (with some very light editing). So, here it is for posterity.

The poetry grind

I've been on this grind for quite a while
And you know what? It still makes me smile

You'd think after so many words and lines
I'd be sick of the thought of repeated rhymes

Yet, I'm pleased to say, for what it's worth
I'm still finding new poems to which to give birth

I'm still finding out new things about my self
Still working hard on that eternal wealth

I wont pretend it's easy, that the lines always flow
Or that every week tells me something I don't know

Sometimes it's hard, and I'm not that proud
But it's worth it for the poems I want to shout loud

So here's to another year of poems I'll find
Here's to (at least) one more year on the poetry grind.