Become a Member for exclusive perks and videos: https://bit.ly/ButtonMember
Marie Brown, performing at WoWPS 2020 in Dallas, TX.
About Button:
Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.
We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry’s audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.
Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)
0:02
so i get a phone call from my ex-husband
0:04
who i call my children’s ex-father
0:08
he tells me how he disapproves of our
0:10
son
0:11
and his wife traveling as missionary
0:13
workers
0:14
mind you our son and his wife are grown
0:18
they’ve got a family of their own so i
0:20
pause
0:21
take a deep breath and reply
0:24
minus 20 years you want to be a daddy
0:26
now
0:27
how you think you have the right to
0:30
approve or disapprove
0:32
how you think you could play host in a
0:35
life that you played ghosting in all of
0:37
his life
0:38
how you think you can have some sort of
0:40
impact on his life now because
0:42
he already be a man and a father too
0:45
because where the hell were you
0:47
when he was eight years old as i peered
0:50
through the rear view mirror of my car
0:52
watching him cry silently
0:54
listening to him take gasping breaths
0:57
the size of hurricane ike’s howling wind
0:59
that
1:00
struck as hard as your visible absence
1:02
in his life because you were never there
1:05
for his basketball games track meets
1:08
music recitals the moment he exchanged
1:12
his wedding vows and the day he received
1:15
his baccalaureate degree
1:18
but the moment that hurricane harvey hit
1:21
houston
1:22
our six-foot son carried your almost
1:25
lifeless
1:26
body through wading water he filled out
1:29
your femur papers for you
1:32
all three children took you looking for
1:34
a new apartment
1:36
help you move into that new apartment
1:38
gathered
1:40
pots pans dishes towels
1:43
clothes shoes everything
1:46
to make your house a home
1:51
everything you never gave to them
1:54
[Music]
1:56
and yes i talked about you like you had
1:58
five
2:00
i don’t appreciate or encourage
2:04
my behavior but it was fun
2:08
i enjoyed the hell out of it it was
2:10
therapeutic for me
2:12
but let me tell you deep inside i prayed
2:15
that our children would be better people
2:18
than the both of us put together
2:21
more forgiving than their mother more
2:24
responsible than their
2:25
daughter and their father
2:30
and they prove that
2:41
you
—
This post was previously published on YouTube.
***
You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
 Escape the Act Like a Man Box |
 |
 |
 |
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: Shutterstock
