As we gather through the maze,
Malaise of mall-quest and my inhibitions are detecting
An easter egg.
Promodious woes,
And I spent on all the Poe
Hoes that raketh the earth,
And I have seldom had the coins
But yearned in advance,
Previews advanced,
Yet, still,
Did I go wandering a – to
In search
Of regards
For the poet that went
A – gandering
To some formal
Demise
In the sewer drain
Of opium scented, chalk outline.
I must find this man,
And bring Baltimore
Home
Capturing the gaze
Of the first streetlight
I had never seen,
But followed,
– by mere detection.
An undying wit,
The blackest of days,
Closed for seldom
Correspondence
As my throes, are much preferred,
Defected upon subliminal authority,
Of my understanding of an archaic world,
Traveling steadfast,
In theory,
To macabre mistakes, taken in error,
Salt the slug that throws the stone,
And perhaps the cat of midnight will clean up the mess for you.
Even as the bell tower quakes feverishly,
And the mummy bequest terrors
Upon activation of earthquakes.
I followed the humble hum
Of all destruction
To wonder
What a Virginia boy,
Had planned in tow,
For literary consumption.
Corruption,
Of a darkness fleet,
That strayed amongst defeat,
Only to corrupt,
The mind of a girl that dribbles ink
With her glands, salivating..
And even Pan becomes frightful
For the withering substantial
of a writer,
Once they have fallen,
for a posthumous muse.
Centuries,
Debacle.
Shade in vain,
I called the line again,
No tap,
To wither upon the rats,
That tinker with the noise jingling
in the walls,
And bells of the bolster-heavy,
Choir and chord,
Chant
βYou must flee!β
Or the jungle
Will send
The insect of El Dorado,
Bent behind the fountain
That quatrains jovial,
In the midst
Of a brewed awakening,
Of one that has been punctured
In the lung
Of an unforgivable
Floorboard, splinter.
Eeeekkkkk-eek-eeeeek-
Creaks, –
Upon sight
Of my ravenous door
That gapes and maws.
Time has transferred!
But to illusionary tactic
And I wear the onyx and emerald
dress, once more!
Prevail upon thee,
As I must – it canβt be
I read and read
The worlds scribble into thine
Brained,
Poor, most-unassuming
Individual
With tortoiseshell, golden
Spectacles,
Traded for the curvature of black,
As seldom times,
Come back, to return
Of the smudge I placed
Upon thee lens
To mire upon thee,
The reflection
Of
Mine sight.
Hark!
The world is upon misuse!
Shrieked the missus of jewels!!
One she gasped in dropped maw
Above it before,
And so below it all
– This man of insistence, that seems to bear witness, upon travesty, corrosive pipe dream manifestinβ only withers upon scoundrels that walk the floor of scum !
And I am the one left to clean
The puddle of splatter
And I scatter
With a broom
The room one used to be hotel,
Present-day Prisonβ¦
And now it seems the King of the Rats,
Maintained a short stack
Of drafts
While the window drafted thine bones
Into humble query
Upon the rose
Of luck
That shattered
One’s own
Score of Four,
And the tune never stopped
Thump-thumping since.
Beevils teether,
Beetles seether,
One must be of the rock
To acknowledge
A snake
In oneβs own glare of the yard
In which no other must travel
As thoust will be deemed
Treacherous
Upon avail
Of the realms
Of the garden.
Purgatoracious claims
Upon which a
Woman
Now stakes
A claim
Into the opulence
Of tyranny and sadness
As the view of the blue from the pier
Of the balcony
Of the block
Across that
Rock
Sustains to
Dismay,
And she whispers β..evermoreβ¦β
In the breeze, of sea to shining
Hole of nitre.
Diddle does the girl
The girl that plays the fiddle
But considers it a diddling,
All the same.
The missus
That contests, yes
In consideration of spending time
Of the long trail that leads
Only
To
Shrill,
Stringed vengeance
Upon reverence
Playing to the tune
Of other-where-elseβs
Accord.
Her favorite necklace
Is made out of cheesewire.
Draught and fraught,
Did the gal
Upon her mired quest,
Iβve read your best,
Now Iβd like to read the rest.
β
Took upon the reeds that gave forth
Life to misfortune,
Confused, unfortunate, bastardous
Lame
And I choose you,
Seeking same,
Centur aβ go aβ later,
Sometime.
I found this poetβ¦
No words can really portray.
Obsessive compulsion,
Reverence for reference.
The smell of the rot of the decay of the house
Led me there
In some
Time
And I too,
Caught the gust,
And the rust smited
Any conceptual rest
The blamed-one-of-the-game
And I withered your pages with me
In soulful delight
Between the spirit in the room
That lingers
And zzz-zzz-zzzzzZZzβs
Like some
Mosquito.
Bloodsucker with a pen,
The pictures fall of the wall
Every time I sit down
The pen.
Autographed, in wrath
As the hyperbolic glue of erase
Would stain
Every time
The highlighters switched to charcoal
Dust
Flung
And swung
On the walls
In which I scribbled
Cave-art
Upon the walls
To amuse
This most unholy ghost,
That somehow became of use.
Opulence scored,
The Master raided,
And I was swaythed to procure my path
To the throne,
After a House destined to fall,
Is reborn.
Phoenix gal,
Desert hals,
Never went that way,
Out upon the outskirts,
And jokes, and jesters,
And fools,
May deliver
An experience of more hearty,
And soon.
The Poet smirks.
The Poet is beaming,
Forced upon redeeming,
There is no Lover like you and I.
The one that canβt be seen,
And I chase your twine-like
Saccharine star,
That wanders above all
And brought you – Hark!
Oh betrayal, as I am seethed.
Oh poppycock, as I entrailed
To tell you,
Dear Unholy Ghost,
I gave up on the cells, and deem fortale.
I found you in many ways through the years.
Even the toro that bailed crimson and clay,
The attic that smelled
Of gardenia
The witches that enrathed
As their gravestone pal sat back
With a billy club.
And nurtured sentiments
Towards those who defy death
And move slowly
The sunshine that shot the noise
Of the jungle monkey
To rely in light
Of a broken boulevard –
cabaret show.
Why do the girls have such thin mustaches?
– when they ascorn the stage?
A walken,
Of shell left stocken,
Audio delight,
Was another frightful time,
When I closed thine collection,
Only to erect
In its frame,
That you have friends in thine sight,
Fortuitously into death,
and still you gain fame.
Inspirational with insight,
Only of the most frozen
Of hearts
Seemed to used to enjoy
They, your quotes on metal
That streams
Cups of coffee and wankor
In the stanken erodiation
Of a life
I thought was all mine.
Youβve named enough of them,
I guess they got you before,
When all was so dismal and dreary,
And I sat upon cemetary
Bench
Glancing at a clearing
And in the shade of two
One path I saw in my view,
Of the bench that drenched
Soaked in ratified honey,
And of seldom quake
And sombern autumn grace,
I noticed the sought of two,
Formulating in fruition,
I follow,
Your fallen grace,
The path that sewn,
The hark of heartbreak,
Wilderness gleams,
Coinless adventures,
Dusty jars of penniless
Succumbed
To bribes –
To the scent of rent –
As I toil at my desk,
Stained upon hands
Swollen from key,
A wrench I must
Unquench,
Just to live up to the notion of one,
Celebratory meandering existence.
The plagues waste away in thine vessel,
And I mustnβt, not mustnβt not treble,
As the clouds that became fimble,
Nimble, vapors,
And the aura enhanced of they betrayor,
The Slaught of the Scum,
Only in life, to believe,
One must have it all wrong,
And used sockets for screws,
Venning-less sues,
Demeaned quake of authority,
Some semblance of poor playing
Rotary games
Dominion-living, itβs really all the same.
When it comes down to it,
And as I walked the path to the cloudless wack
That drummed in mine
Drums of ear
And sought to fear
Of the shrewless hue
That caught mine gaze
As soon
As tweed tumbled
And I switched taffeta swatches
For horn-hipped gown,
And suddenly lace circumvents
The frown
Turned smiled
The ravenous door opened.
And I –
– I taketh the same path as thee.
Scrimbles, and flunders,
Garrulous wonders,
Whimsy with cries,
I want to be as dark
As thine own
Coat
After the one
Is buried
Upon massive stroke
And only the henchman
Few
Disperse
Thine quibbling dialogues
Illness, distraught,
As there is no other
Upheaval
Between the art
And the artist,
of the Wretched,
That wound a view or two,
Semblance of notion,
Life is dreary upon waking,
Weariness,
So I choose crow,
For dinner.
Expecting your reservation
Without answer
Nor notion.
Accompany and I will not forsake thee.
A gleam lines true,
Between the venomous verum
Of you
And I.
Never in circulation,
Distribution has not sought
Accommodation
Though I tinker noiselessly,
Silent, vampant, creature of some sort.
Tirelessly,
I hope I
Croak,
The same way,
You do:
In the afterlife.
– a special thanks to my friend and colleague Mike Utley of Silent Pariah for providing the title, direction, and a gentle nudge of encouragement in order to finally get around to writing this self-imposed, long-awaited piece depicting my personal love and professional admiration, that has somehow driven me through the ups, downs, pure-abandonments, and absolute-joy of writing; upon return to this expansive, varietal, ensconced-with-spice field. This has been the most fun, I’ve ever had writing. Full of references, allusions, and otherwise inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe and all of those furthermore alluding to a poor poet’s infamous life and peculiarly decadent work that has seemed to flood the world with easter-eggs of creativity. Even amongst the woes of a mostly melancholy existence of fortuitously macabre, entrenched endeavours – Poe continues to thrive today. His lavishly, profuse contribution to poetry, prose, writing otherwise; is held tightly and permanently somewhere in the midsts of the canals of insanity between the overcharged neurons that have somehow led me, to become a writer. Poe, egregiously, provided the jumpstart for my most soulful fulfilling of passions that has seemed to garner to keep my attention, even if it’s been a mere speck of a moment pursuing writing professionally [officially].
– All this comeuppance due to a few irrigating correspondances of comments detailed in “Fable of Commensalism” between Mike and I, that “briefly” expresses a foreshadowing to my own origin-story actualized, in the ever-constant ongoing pursuit of being a writer, part-time poet too.
– Sam Borromeo Wilson Villalobos

14 responses to ““”Poe at 13.”””
You nailed this, Sam.βIt has such an epic feel, a magnum opus air to it.βImagine, all these years all of this has been germinating in your mind, waiting for the right moment to sprout…and boy, did it sprout!βIt’s good to know this one brought you so much joy while writing it, and afterwards as well.βThis is what it’s all about: creation and the building of new worlds, and the personal satisfaction that accompanies it.βWell done, my friend.βKeep those words flowing.βππ
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I must agree, Mike. Yes, all these things; very true (even if I struggle.) A-looongg-time coming, within the works of this piece. I mostly just enjoyed speaking in straight 17th century reference of references (along with some etymology-loving words in there) of my favorite poet (besides Leonard Cohen, I consider George Orwell a poet of some sort as well {1984 is a love story, I said what I said}) in his linguistic style of poetry and prose and so on, perhaps even criticism -towards myself- for not getting around to it sooner.
My not-breathing overworked brain has probably rewritten this mentally many times, but only alluded to the allusions of the “demasqued -illusion” of how much I truly appreciate and admire Poe, and how much that book that still sits on my shelf means to me. All pretty and presented, no matter how many times I move it or barely even look at it.. for years now (out of respect). I feel kinda bad that you can barely, only really see “the complete tales and po ms of ed (gar [faint]) al a” on the binding. Not even “Poe” shows on the spine, it all wore off gradually while I was reading it.
This piece was very quickly written one-and-done’d with only fixing typos, I assume from only pure passion and the darkest depths of how I experience joy. Amongst a very chaotic, very-very-very-very-ver-veeerryyy (x5) long, hefty day of a workload. The task manager prevails, however. I even cooked beef for lunch and salmon for dinner that day (yesterday, even if it’s after midnight now..) that I barely even got around to eating, only half a plate each time, so busy!! Not just with writing, what-so-ever.
Really though, it felt like the same intrigued-excitement I lived in while I was working towards the back of the book. Ambience settled by dirty carpet, unmopped tiles, a bathroom curtain that I would constantly rip down along with the tension rod, when I’d fall asleep against the wall sitting criss-cross-applesauce and some RA was doing their checks and I’d jolt awake at the sound of their footsteps approaching the door marker, with only the static hiss of eye-wrenching fluorescent tubing to provide light. Every piece a page turner no matter the correlation of why; I knew I was going to skip sleep and just read until the window and breakfast came a calling.
I never finished that copy’s “..Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym..” like I mentioned in the “Fable of Commensalism” comments. I was in the better mindset, so I closed that book too along with my own.
Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sits atop of Poe, and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Complete Fiction, sits underneath as a sentiment to the ambience and so forth of that time period of my life expressed in non-chronological sentiments. A good visual remembrance for me.
I move my bookcase every season anyways, rearrange the interior at that more-so-frequently.
Thank you for your kindness, Mike.
Maybe one day I’ll believe ya when you say “It has… a magnum opus air to it.” – I’ll let a little time pass, before we start assumingππ
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[β¦] Sam is also a dedicated student of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, as evidenced in her recent poem βPoe at 13.β [β¦]
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Hello friend, I enjoyed your post. I subscribed. See you often. Have a good dayππ«ππΈππ·
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Thank you so much for giving it a read and subscribing!! Have a good day as well,π₯ππππ«Ά
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I love your lexical choice and pace. Everything is controlled in such a way that reading becomes easy and enjoyable. I could see the whole of Edgar Allan Poe in it and bits and tits of Maya Angelou (I read it with the voice she used when she read ‘A Brave and Startling Truth’ at the United Nations inauguration ceremony. Certainly, you’re a great poet. You belong to that calibre of writers. Keep writing. π
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I am incredibly humbled by your [daringly] gracious notion of seeing some of that Miss Mayas’ in my work. There is a specific reference to her preferred writing process in this piece, amongst the rest of so-whatever- happens to be there that wasn’t intended. With kismet definition, I’m delighted for you to have mentioned “A Brave and Startling Truth.” At one point, a dream of mine was to become an astrophysicist and admired Carl Sagan deeply, later Neil DeGrasse Tyson that I learned about through Bill Nye, and I watched that show after I learned about Carl, then I found Bill, then I found Neil, and suddenly there’s a reboot of Cosmos happenin’ not too soon.. somehow I came across these individuals through the teachings of a Miss Mayas’ teaching me about Miss Maya Angelou. You’ve offered me incredible inspiration for another story to tell.
Thank you so much, Lamittan.
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I’m glad you draw inspiration from others and that my response to your writing delights you. You’re undoubtedly a great poet and I look forward to reading more of your work. Feel most welcome, my friend.
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Thank you so much , be on the lookout!! It’s already written up. Maya Angelou has incredible significance to my childhood. It was a joy to write. I don’t know how long it would’ve taken for me to even think of the idea. I don’t think of my style much like Maya Angelou, though I frequently use Poe-esque composition format. It was wonderful encouragement to get around to sharing the story of a Woman that nourished my future as a writer, without ever coming out and saying it point-blank. I learn so much about my life, when I take the risk to look back. I even cooked a recipe she taught me to make tonight that I’ve been craving since the last time I had it, all those years ago. “Utter-necessitated-perfection.. for moments like…” the past few days have been. Thank you for thatπ
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Yes, sometimes, and indeed many times, people we see or hear about shape our thoughts and styles of living in many ways, and we may not even realise it yet until others see it. I’m glad she shaped you up in one way or the other. I’m well-pleased.
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She always told me “Choose to be the prism, that casts the rainbow.” Not everyone sees the rainbow depending on their stance of angle. She was most certainly, correct in this piece of advice she had given me one day.. while reading Maya Angelou. Hope you get to checking it out whenever I’m ready to upload!!
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Yes, dear. I have my notif bell turned on for your posts. Maya Angelou certainly loved to talk about people being rainbows in other people’s cloud, and the possibility of seeing rainbow in one’s clouds. I love her ideologies. She loved to sing that folksong: And still when it looked like the sun wasn’t going to shine anymore, God put a rainbow in the clouds. I loved that woman.
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Generationally, it is very beautiful to me that the works of Maya Angelou was held with such weight and density within the soul, that I didn’t even notice how it was passed onto me. It’s good and more than worthwhile to listen to our elders’ stories π Even in passing of majority of my pivotal elders’, I’m still learning from them and gaining understanding of their notions, and most importantly, how struggle led them on the path to incredibly long lives. Worth a grain of salt, in the least.
Thank you so much, for listening to that rang-a-dang-dang ringing bell, haha!
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Oh yes. That’s spot-on. I feel most obliged towards your illuminating response.
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