And now, the last Poem-A-Day for this year’s series is here. Thank you to everyone who has been following our National Poetry Month celebration and welcome to all of the new subscribers who have joined us this month!

Just a note: I will be posting a bit more sparsely in May for a variety of reasons:

1. I need to finish up my semester, and that entails a LOT of work.
2. My kid is graduating!! And that entails a LOT of activities.
3. I’m late with the spring issue of Sonic Chihuahua and want to get it finished up in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to be awesome! But that ALSO entails quite a bit of work — particularly in chasing down a few things from some of this season’s contributors.

So don’t think I’ve abandoned you just because the posts become less frequent. It is, after all, May, and that’s a busy time for a schoolteacher. But fabulous things are on the horizon, and I can’t wait to tell you about them. Soon.

So tonight I’m featuring a poem by Marlon Lizama from his book Cue the writer: Cheers to the notion of Love, Hate, GOD, and Revolution. Enjoy!

“I Write”

I write
because of the moon
because the most high
allows ideas to attack me daily

because mc’s,
want to move the crowd
but I want to move
mountains

I write
because I was never taught to,
but I learned how to read
in spite of him and always for her

I write
because of the Alchemist
for the seasons in Nevada
and if Frida was alive
she would be my very best friend

I write
for Botero’s view on beauty
and Saul’s passion
I write
because I never knew my father
I barely know my mother
and my grandmother died

I write
for my version of a second hand
story passed down to me
through drunk tongues

I write to make you
uncomfortable,
to remind u that
you don’t know me

I write
for love,
for the idea of love,
for the idea of love
that I would give my life for

Injustices with baby fingers

I write
to gain courage for them,
sanity for me,
and to always keep her wooed

I write
because paper is sacrifice
to not let the tree die in vain
I write ultimately,
to be free

***

Marlon Lizama is a Poet/artist who focuses on the cultural aspect of writing and the arts. Coming to the United States at the age of nine, he discovered himself in the sub-culture called Hip Hop. Joining a group which quickly became world-renowned through competition, theater, workshops, and cultural exchange programs, Havikoro represented a group of young dancers, poets, and artists that put Houston on the world culture map. Marlon has been to over forty countries through competition, performances, poetry shows, and through working with the State Department. He is currently being supported by St. Paul’s Methodist through an artist-in-residence program in Houston, Texas, where he is currently creating a writing program that works with youth from all over the city. Youth groups include Sharpstown High School, incarcerated youth, St. Paul’s spiritual youth group, and Houston probation department. The goal of the program is to create writers and published young authors. Find him online at http://www.marlonlizamapoetry.org/home.html.