It's not the last time
The last time I did something for myself
was last night
cause I went to sleep
like a zombie I climbed into bed
and fell into a sleep so deep
my mom thought I was half-dead
and the last time before that
I sautéed some steak
for myself
because I bench-pressed 280 at the gym
Last year, The Johnie's, A division III football team
had a non winning season
Last time that happened it was 1986
It just goes to show even when you have the most amazing wins
it never really sticks
I know those times won't be the last time
it won't be the last time I cook but it is THE last time I've cooked
The last time I saw you I thought I would be over it
I imagined I'd build a bridge of baby cribs and nurse my wounds
till I did
I'd tell myself this was the last time I'd let you pass through my mind
But behind it all it was bullshit
The last time I thought of you I was making this poem
I was flowing in and out of stanza after stanza
and I thought of you and I broke my own rule
I used that thought of you as my own fuel
It was pretty cool
Last year when I got to Brockton High
I remember a teacher of mine telling me
“Ritchy, you are going to do something great in this world.”
I told him “Uh, Thank you! That means a lot”
Of course, I thought “jeez, he must be smoking pot.”
(I mean have you seen me???)
if there's one thing I've learned from being in this generation it's this.
We are a group of people stuck between the simplicity of our parents
and the stupidity of descendants
We're stuck between pick your pants up and sag them
between ask a woman out and bag them
between Nike and Polo
Yoda and....and YOLO
look, it's not really a bad thing
the point is
We're the last generation born in the twentieth century
and essentially we're already ancient
because while we pull our wacky stunts
every nine months another is added to the new generation
we may be topsoil now but with every new season
we get pushed down an inch and we could be fossils by this weekend
So I tell myself a lot of times that this is the last time
or that this last line but it's not
Back when Abraham Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation
He promised it would be the last time there would be slavery
But even now I still see slaves in even greater amount
except it's no longer about your body,
you're chained to your bank account
Your picking taxes in the heat
getting whipped by inflation
while the government drinks Iced tea
but the thing is my beliefs are discreet
I was told that in MLK's life it was the last time there would be racism
I was called a nigger just last week.
It's called freedom of speech
I'm spoken on about my mistakes and I'm told and I tell
that these times I've fell have to be the last time
I'm offered a chair so I don't stand up for myself
I'm painted as the underdog
As I dog-ear my issues even if their alarming
Told that I'm just a frog
waiting for a princess to become prince charming
Told that being the big guy is a bad thing
just because I say I'm starving
I know that those words weren't built to last
and the last time won't be the last time
I'm fine with the last poem I did just like I'm fine with this one
Because if I remember what a poet said last
In this world the people you are destined to meet are part of your future
and once you meet them they rapidly become part of your past
but, this is my present to you while I share my present state of mind for all to view
I've mined my last times and climbed the diamonds of truth
to bring you the cold hard facts
If you keep worrying about the last time
You'll trip over the next time
and land flat on your back
and be back in the same situation except it'll worsen
so stop pretending like it's the last time and be a good person!