Poems by Luther Jarman

Poems by lUThEr JArMAN

returning to Your Addiction That Monkey on Your Back

The time will come when you will want a drink. But you must always think How it made your life a living hell How you wound up in jail The time will come when your love jones will come down And you’ll be chasing every girl in town But you must remember how it made Your life a living hell And you wound up in jail The time will come when you eat like a pig And get real big You say, “There’s nothing wrong with eating food And being in a mellow mood”— But you eat ten chicken legs And you need to see Jenny Craig Read the Bible or Science Fiction But don’t return to your addiction.

I rise to a greater Life

I refuse to lose I refuse to have the blues I refuse to beg with a cup I refuse to give up I rise to a Greater Life I was on my back Smoking crack Looking like a sad sack Being drunk everyday Throwing my life away I just have one thing to say: I rise to a Greater Life Once I was insane Sleeping on park benches and trains I couldn’t stay sober for an hour But God blessed me with bounce-back power I ain’t found no girlfriend or wife But I rise to a Greater Life

Hi-Tech gods

Worshipping your Hi-Tech gods Smart phones and iPods Tweeting, twitting, and E-mail— Is there a Hi-Tech hell below? Then we all are going to go! We all are going to go!

I gotta Write a Dope poem!

I gotta write a dope poem But I’d rather write a love, peace, and hope poem Buy a bar of soap poem Try to get over the hump poem Don’t go out of the year a chump poem A jump, jump, jump poem A find a new life poem A find a good wife poem A bright and sunny poem A make more money poem I gotta write a dope poem But I’d rather write a love, peace, and hope poem

peace

Run! Run Fast! You never can outrun that voodoo demon on your ass. Try to keep my number in. I know gambling is a sin. I need to get me a hit. White folks talking about blowing up shit. I have two raggedy bibles I read. They tell me God will supply all my needs. Ezekiel saw the wheel in the middle of a wheel. Life is short and hell is real. I take my magic pill Because I like the way it makes me feel. As I create my masterpiece I cross my arms and face the east. Then I pray for Peace.