Christopher Hantman

There was a time when looking like a fool or failing

would bother me, but the old flames tend to burn a bit less now,

though their just as warm and the light is still bright enough to tell stories by.

There was a time when being wrong or losing 

would worry me, but since then i’ve gained better friends

10 track album

i have a collaborative piece featured on this 10 track spoken word compilation!

It is free so be sure to check it out and pass it along for #Nationalpoetrymonth

I took a piece i had half done and added a verse/edited the original stuff. To me that counts, so ..

Classroom civility demonstrated from the desk of each student

hands raise and every mind opens

However just like the dog that nips at its owner

an animal can only tame temporarily

Drab cement walls and single file lines

file them down till compliant and dull

we reward the silent with the opportunity

to be full and first-served canned carrots and meat of mystery

Cruel school-children place embargos

on compliments for one hour a day

a recess from reason.

An indulgence of instinct when let loose,

they pursue playground barbarity

after playing nice with lunchroom politics,

chocolate-pudding barters and Twinky tariffs.

The prison mess hall and wrought metal zoo will bring the primal criminal out in anyone 

However these wolves are slick and wear velcro shoes and superhero cufflinks While stabbing make-believe knives into their best friend of the week’s back 

At day’s end they wash hands clean 

yop a hearty “Goodbye” and skip on, hand in hand, toward home. 

And as they skip they slip swiftly back into their sheepskin. 

Day 1: A Collection of Haikus about National Poetry Month.

I.

Nationally, poets

give a damn for just one month

then feign writer’s block.

II.

Always an excuse

as to why we can’t create

never a solution

III.

Convenient, April

and inspiration barge in

to show the words way.

IV.

But just like christmas,

words want presence, on more than