By: J.W. Kash

You meet so many people
in life

You see so many
things

You hear so many
promises
and plans

Vision and Ideas

Projects, trips, collaborations, art, dreams
Oh yes yes yes
Words words words

I am guilty of these words and dreams
These grandiose thoughts
These hearty slaps on the back
This empty optimism

I remember leaving a birthday party
on a
Beautiful Sunday afternoon
Timmy had turned twenty-three the day before
There had been a keg in a kiddie pool
Now Matt and I were driving on the highway
With Timmy’s sister’s thong hanging from the rear view mirror
We were high
The sun was shining
Summer air rushed through the open windows
2pac blasting
And I had the sudden conviction
That I would study for the Virginia bar exam
And become a lawyer without going to law school
And not tell anyone about it
I was so certain
This thing would happen
I studied hard for three weeks

I remember having sexual intercourse
With a woman from Bolivia
On numerous, sweaty occasions
She was often louder
Than I deserved
But our conversations were not the most
Exciting
I found myself stopping mid
sentence
Because she might not understand the word I was about to say
So I purchased Rosetta Stone
And brushed up on my Spanish
For two months I studied hard
And listened to Rompe
By Daddy Yankee
On repeat
She moved away
To a different city
So much for that
Ay de mi

I used to eat a lot of Thai food
And drink a lot of
Thai Iced Tea
But there was no place
Where you could find this wonderful beverage
In a bottle
So I purchased twenty six bags of the tea leaves online
Purchased a tea strainer
Researched for hours
Experimented
In my kitchen
Calculated the measurements
And made my own recipe
I had visions of factories
Giant, swirling vats
Trucks and deliveries
Loans from banks
I wrote out a proposal
Frameworks for Commercials
Bulldog Tea, it would be called
Motto: Stay Calm Be Strong
J.W. Kash
The business man

Two months ago I re-read my favorite book:
The Sun Also Rises
I decided I would write a screenplay
So I read it again, taking notes
Purchased three books on the screenwriting craft
Downloaded a screenwriting app
Wrote the screenplay
Decided I would tell the director
He could butcher my manuscript
As long as there was a two second shot
In the movie
Of J.W. Kash
Running with the bulls
A rising star
Fearful of nothing
Nearly gored in the back
Hollywood
Here I come

Don’t get me started
On relationships
A drink here
A smile there
A text message
A business card
A handshake
Should we? Should we? Maybe
Many beginnings
Many hopes
Many toasts

It’s my fault
I admit it
I get infatuated
Then distracted
Pulled in a thousand directions
I’m not spread thin
Oh no no no
I’m just a knife
Stabbing at the air

Without any contact

Because even severed fragments of this poem
Were written in a fit of
Emotion and certainty
In a cramped room at 4am
Eyes stinging
Hands shaking
Face burning
With that English girl
On the floor below
Screaming at her boyfriend
Two to three years
Ago

Lost in a notebook…slipped away…

Life washes away everything
If there are no limitations
If there is nothing to hold and contain
The ferment

So many people
Like myself
Lose it all
Let it slip away in the space
Between cup and lip

We should try and bring the cup
All the way
To our lips
More often

To see
How it
Really
Tastes