last week’s poems 14

Brendan: There’s only two species of people in this world, did you know that? Some scientists looked way way back in our evolution and discovered that all humans come from just two kinds of monkey, the Chimpanzee and the Bonobo. They’re almost indistinguishable. They’re both primates but they have completely different characteristics. The chimp if it’s scared will fight and in some cases even kill its own. But, the Bonobo, they just huddle together and fuck.

JR: Yeah yeah, you’re a lover or a fighter.

Brendan: The Bonobo are almost extinct. You need to figure out which species you are, and you better do it quickly.

- Son Of A Gun (2014 Film)

one big reason the Bonobos are endangered is that they only exist in the Democratic Republic of Congo where civil unrest makes it challenging for wildlife conservation groups to access and protect the species

here’s to the Bonobos out there trying to love well and create well:

The artistic process is about making the "flow" periods longer— and the "doubt periods" a source of creative inspiration.

- Bronques

the metaphysics of my room

the sketches were all half finished

strewn about my floor

but my bed was right next to my paint supplies

and the charcoal was getting into my lungs

so i packed up my easel

put it in a carrying case

tucked it under my bed

and with it i cleared my lungs

but lost my heart

i put my drawings in storage

until a time when i had a space

that i could be free to breathe

and to paint

but when she came over

she never saw the portraits i had sketched

of her and how i remembered her always

it was hidden away

almost forgotten

i could breathe

but the air wasn’t the same

and the sketches were still half finished

and all the poets sold their souls in copywriting

thinking about your life as an art piece >

they say you can’t make something great without first making a lot of something

“the city is more dangerous than the jungle, no?”

- Juan, fisherman who’s house we stayed at on the black water of the Amazon

the funny thing is they’ll be happy for you but only once you’ve made it

notes from a writing course i took long ago

the first draft is going to suck

only work to a word count

never reread on a first draft.

writing is always going to be hard. it is you against you. it’s a slog it’s a slog. it’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with a blindfold on. you have to be addicted to the puzzle. 

my ego is getting in the way of creation because the creation isn’t showing up perfectly

don’t write out of your identity wounds, don’t write to tell people you are smart or witty

love the idea you are trying to write about instead of yourself

remove yourself from the response of other people

1 hour of writing everyday

don’t play a victim, create from a place of joy

stop telling yourself this is hard

oh dear friend its been so long

since we got along

and oh old lover its been so long

since we loved at all

and oh old dreams its been so long

since i set you free

a story about a long waiting line to heaven or hell but nobody knows which one they are going to

i had lost the chaos for a little while but it was coming back

Bonobos and Chimps both share 98.7% of their DNA with humans

“Bonobos really like to play, even as adults — so much, that some researchers think the bonobo is the most playful species of all.” - https://www.awf.org/blog/endangered-bonobo-africas-forgotten-ape

lost truly,

Léo

fin,

for now


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