Somewhere Lost
Other books by
Jasen Sousa
Life, Weather
A Thought and a Tear for Every Day of the Year Close Your Eyes and Dream With Me Almost Forever
A Mosaic of My Mind
17-24: Selected Poems of Jasen Sousa
Humming Eternity
......…
Somewhere Lost
Jasen Sousa
Special thanks to Wendy Mnookin
for poem editing and sequence assistance
Cover photograph by Alex Foster
A J-Rock Book
Somerville+Boston+Worldwide
Copyright © 2011 by Jasen Sousa
Copyright © All Rights Reserved by J-Rock Publishing
Photographs by Alex Foster
Book Design by Dime Designz
J-Rock Publishing and Dime Designz
In affiliation with Eudimeonia Entertainment
and The United Front Company
All rights reserved under international and Pan-American copyright conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, electronic, mechanical, or by any other means, without written permission of the author. Address all inquiries to :
J-Rock Publishing
45 Francesca Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0055-6
For Chris Ormond
Author’s Note:
This is a collection of poems about my relationships with people who have struggled with substance abuse. Writing is all about point of view, and I believe I am in a unique position to tell this story, my story, and their stories. How we both deal with addiction being part of our lives, and being present in our community. Addiction is not a fault or a weakness, it is a disease, and it just so happens that many of the people I grew up with suffer from this disease.
It is important for the reader to know that I have never had a snort, smoke, sip, or shot of any substance, even though I have been surrounded by drugs most of my life. Not even alcohol or a cigarette. It’s how I have earned one of my many nicknames, URBAN MONK. I am not better, or smarter than my peers who have feel victim to addiction, I am just lucky. We are made of the same flesh and blood, and if I was ever addicted to drugs, I would suffer through the same HELL as my friends.
Why do I associate myself with drug addicts, and drug dealers? It has never been like that with me. Growing up across the street from a park, and now doing all of the youth work I do, I could never ignore these people, their problems, our problems. I have known most of them since I was five or six years old. They are like an extended family to me, and you don’t turn your back on family, no matter how dirty things get.
I write about things that are important, these people, these stories, are important to me. After you read this book, I hope they will be important to you too. I think all of us, when we take the time to think about it, realize that drug addicts are not losers, they are just souls temporarily lost, and it’s up to us to help them find their way home.
Peace,
Jasen Sousa
What’s lost in the streets
without names and owners
eventually finds homes, cuddled
by the flames of loners.
Listen to those who search
for temporary treasure on the corners
where weight is exchanged for
green feathers
that float into the pockets
of invisible street lovers dressed
in urban sweaters, stitched
with the letters of their real names.
Who you be?
Who can you be?
Sell more than lies
that were put in your palm. Search
for the truth like the man who keeps
asking for a refill of the juice
in his arm.
Check please!
Full, until I am hungry again. Search
for nourishment that will fill
the linings of my stomach’s soul for an entire lifetime,
or at least until the moment gets old.
Inner city mining, digging for punishment.
Do you feel me, how am I supposed to be felt?
Every time I write, live a line,
I wonder if I will tell it in the right way?
Can
