Poetry with slpmartin ~ Charles Martin

We are privileged to bring to you the poet and photographer slpmartin aka Charles Martin in this edition of  The River. Charles lives in California with his wife and loves listening to Jazz on the weekends. He is a poet with his own unique style of form that writes daily poems he posts on his blog Read Between the Minds. I asked him why he started writing poetry and what inspires him to write . Here are his words….

“I started writing poetry in high school because I believed it had the power to makes us aware of what is hidden in the shadows…those places that we seldom see or want to see…the poet’s voice scrapes away the facade of an issue and lays bare for all to see what has been denied. By providing a voice to these mute realities, poets have throughout history altered the course of events by enlightening readers and encouraging them to take action to stop wars, halt injustice, and to reach out to their fellow man. Like those poets who have proceeded me, I am motivated by the same desire to bring about the social changes necessary to enhance the quality of life for those around me and around the world and to give voice to those who cannot speak for themselves.”

was poe alone….

what if
everything
you believe
is a lie
one fabricated
by corporate ads
designed to
sell
you on
whatever
makes a profit
and
you
buy into it
since
you’ve read
a book
not that soft covered
version of life
but
a hard covered
expose
that said
you should
believe
and
so you
were certain
that anything having
such a lovely
cover
couldn’t lie
so
you
invested a lifetime
in what was
nothing more
than
a drug
induced
prophecy

~~

memo from god on subway wall…

i
didn’t
do it
nothing
intend
with it
no
pros
or
cons
with it
gotta
go
make
a planet
good
luck
with
whatever
you’re blaming
me
for