See some of my poetic pieces throughout the years below. I add new selections weekly, so make sure you come back and visit.
"Will he ever
be satisfied?" I
absently
muse as
memories roam
alone
through a veil
of idle darkness
over my
body, a map of
fingerprints
forged by
your curious hands,
which have now
departed
to explore
more virgin territory...
(© 1999 Marcus Harris, originally published in Songs In Search Of A Voice)
wilderness trails cleared,
hand irons shift to handcuffs –
new roads to be paved . . .
(© 2005 Marcus Harris, originally published in Songs In Search Of A Voice)
“Those who remove mountains,
begin by carrying many small stones.”
Chinese Proverb
Grandma used to get her peaches
at the flea market down the way
on Saturdays…
now it’s some hip gourmet cupcake place -
but she always says,
“Count your blessings, not your problems.”
Granddaddy used to stay
in a little duplex
on the east side…
it’s a condo now, he lives with us -
still, he always says,
“Better little, than too little.”
We used to see Mr. Jerry downtown,
staggering up the same sidewalk,
asking for whatever you could spare…
now it’s
white girls
in sports bras
walking their dogs
and
white guys
in booty shorts and visors,
huffin’ and puffin’,
lips and legs floppin’ -
different kinda stagger.
Daddy calls it "gen-tri-fi-cay-shun,"
says
it’s a real fancy word
for making sure
the have nots never have,
explains
how “displacement” is “progress,”
why Grandma and Granddaddy
were forced to make
their peace…
I remember
reading about something like this
in school:
colonialism,
Manifest Destiny -
different names,
same results…
but
what
they didn’t teach us,
what
I guess it’ll always be,
is just
a perpetual solution
in search of
a problem.
(© 2017 Marcus Harris, originally published in #snapshot)
We used to
reach for the stars,
now we just
reach for our phones,
so distracted,
so many reasons
to look down,
drifting, floating through
cyberspace,
lured by
hypnotic flashes of
artificial light…
When
I first saw you,
I felt like an astronomer
who discovered some
brand new star -
but
truth is,
stars aren’t new,
they’ve been around for
millions of years,
their light always shining,
seen everywhere else in
the universe -
truth is,
they’re just
new to us,
reasons
to stop floating, drifting -
like you,
reasons
to look up again.
(© 2017 Marcus Harris, originally published in #snapshot)
© 2025 Marcus Harris. All Rights Reserved.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.