Urban Monk By Jasen Sousa
Urban Monk
In a crowded city it is hard to breathe,
trying to inhale air so stale.
Mixed in with the breeze,
truth, lies, cigarette smoke and weed.
In a crowded city it is hard to believe.
Bare trees, girls on their knees,
the frail figures of drug addicts.
In a crowded city there is not much room to grieve.
Where does someone go to find inner peace in the streets?
Is there a place to experience tranquil thoughts?
I can’t concentrate with sirens,
beeps and the homeless woman who weeps.
Where do I go when I can’t escape my own heartbeat?
Running from my problems, from a broken family and from the cops,
no matter how pure, into my soul, sickness slowly seeps.
Hard to not walk in the same shoes as earlier crews,
easy money to make, hard to refuse.
Peers trying to convince me to be the same, I’m trying to change.
The effects of pollution and poverty, look at the sky,
it’s no longer painted with beautiful blues.
Everyday the papers are reporting the same violent news.
It’s in my brain, to fit in I have to wear gold chains
while gangs are my only real family.
I live in a society where there is little to gain and even less to lose.
It’s time to be serious,
this is no time to laugh,
if I don’t find a way out I am going to explode.
The cities wicked wind has me lost in its wrath.
This is the point in my life where I’m at…
While my friend is getting a gun to load,
I walk a different road.
I am an urban monk
who searches for a different path.
Taken From
Selected Poems of Jasen Sousa
17-24
©
Comprised of works from:
Life, Weather (First Collection of Poems Written At Age 17) (Not In College)
A Thought and A Tear for Every Day of The Year: A Poetic Diary (Written Between ages 18-19) (Stint at Suffolk University)
Close Your Eyes and Dream With Me (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
Almost Forever (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
A Mosaic of My Mind (Written at Age 24) (Beginning Emerson College)
In a crowded city it is hard to breathe,
trying to inhale air so stale.
Mixed in with the breeze,
truth, lies, cigarette smoke and weed.
In a crowded city it is hard to believe.
Bare trees, girls on their knees,
the frail figures of drug addicts.
In a crowded city there is not much room to grieve.
Where does someone go to find inner peace in the streets?
Is there a place to experience tranquil thoughts?
I can’t concentrate with sirens,
beeps and the homeless woman who weeps.
Where do I go when I can’t escape my own heartbeat?
Running from my problems, from a broken family and from the cops,
no matter how pure, into my soul, sickness slowly seeps.
Hard to not walk in the same shoes as earlier crews,
easy money to make, hard to refuse.
Peers trying to convince me to be the same, I’m trying to change.
The effects of pollution and poverty, look at the sky,
it’s no longer painted with beautiful blues.
Everyday the papers are reporting the same violent news.
It’s in my brain, to fit in I have to wear gold chains
while gangs are my only real family.
I live in a society where there is little to gain and even less to lose.
It’s time to be serious,
this is no time to laugh,
if I don’t find a way out I am going to explode.
The cities wicked wind has me lost in its wrath.
This is the point in my life where I’m at…
While my friend is getting a gun to load,
I walk a different road.
I am an urban monk
who searches for a different path.
Taken From
Selected Poems of Jasen Sousa
17-24
©
Comprised of works from:
Life, Weather (First Collection of Poems Written At Age 17) (Not In College)
A Thought and A Tear for Every Day of The Year: A Poetic Diary (Written Between ages 18-19) (Stint at Suffolk University)
Close Your Eyes and Dream With Me (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
Almost Forever (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
A Mosaic of My Mind (Written at Age 24) (Beginning Emerson College)