Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Contest

I like old things…
by Andrew Johnson

THirty-Fourth Contest
Third Place

I like old things
broken and discarded
Old faces are a mystery to me
and I wonder what they have seen

I'm shaving in a mirror
with a used razor blade
before I go to work
to an all too common job

As I get older
I care less what people say
They care less about what I say
until we reach a stalemate

Give me time alone
and I instantly feel better
Falling in love
with my own fantasies

How many of us
remain uncovered
undiscovered
treasures
that don't want to be found

I look at society
moving at a rushing pace
and I wonder at the people
who have been discarded

Those lost souls
who have lived differently
and don't need as much
as the rest of us

Old things whisper to me
just like they whisper to you
You must listen
to hear them

Life away from life is living.
My breath is foreign in the wasteland
and I am more grateful for it.

About the Author
I am a thirty-two-year-old doctoral student at Seattle University, and I currently work as a psychologist in a 6-8 middle school. When I write poetry, I am either a fool or a philosopher. I like to write because I feel free; it allows my soul to scream. For lively poetry and exciting short stories, check out my blog: Intellectual Shaman Poetry for Finding Meaning in the Madness, at https://intellectualshaman.wordpress.com/.