the poetry knook, the poetry of stephen m. james

Poems with the tag ‘games’

Go fish. I don’t have the cards you’re looking for

Don’t tell them who I am:
preconceived ideas–damn it!
I had to deal with those when I got called–oh, so long ago.
You thought I was going to make things better:
give you a mansion by the seaside?
All my talk of mansions isn’t here, you know,
to keep you warm and cozy by the fireside.
Go and save the world, and oh, and by the way,
break your grandmother’s heart
she’ll only see you every 2 years.


Don’t care about Happiness

Candy rots my teeth: succulent girls, games on-screen, scenes from my past–wasting in apathy.
Order me a window seat among the clouds awaiting storms and falling debris, drowning for
I don’t care about happiness–insecure when smiling, laughing–
artificial as a sad clown performing.
Rock climbing, dancing, playing with food,
Fun exists to relate to those craving the new.
Living in the present, never the moment, hope I never will
Forget my holy harbor, never charting ahead without rudder or sail:
terminal dead reckoning I am a present for others to unwrap.
Trash my paper into waste cans: all my masks!
Happy when depressed–at peace, resolute.
High–not on THC or manipulating music–
on forced relationship I adore,
Indebted to sacrifice to the one called Jesus.
Wanting to die for His cause, but to live for it?
If wrong, is me worth living? Betting my soul on my God
Self-taught that nothing selfish has worth.
My time is not mine; never was or will be.



© 1993-2026 by Stephen M. James.