Me, My Dad, & The Maker [Poetry Reading]

I'm going to read a poem I wrote. It's short and kind of weird and you'll probably like it. If you don't, please spare my feelings and say you did.

By the way, Youtube hates short videos so make sure to like and share this one, otherwise, the algorithm will sift me like wheat.

Oh and if this underperforms? I'm just going to do more of my poetry, and much worse poems too. So... you think about that.

cw: surgery, medical issues

#poetry #poem #parenting

Poem: "Me, My Dad, and the Maker"
Author: me
Musical interludes: mine
Pexels Stock Footage: Thank you to Cesar Casanova and Yasmine Figueiredo

[zoe_bee]

Absolutely breathtaking.

There are wonderful words working together here that create some really awesome sounds. (Those first few lines you read? Absolute perfection.)

And your imagery and metaphors are astounding. Heartbreaking. Beautiful.

It makes my heart so happy that I was even a small motivating factor in bringing this into the world ❤

[portalbobsc]

It's really cool seeing more people branch out into sharing their poetry! I loved the little bits of humor you brought to it, especially that last line, that was a really clever pun. Hoping we'll get to see more of your work in the future!

[ThatDangDad]

I'll have an awesome full-length video up in the next couple of weeks. Very excited about it!

[simonholmes]

I love the religious imagery throughout; it does what I consider to be poetry's greatest strength, to span the story across different contexts. To me, it speaks to how radically one's mindset can be changed by a medical emergency, disability, or death. The slow horror of aging and dying family members, the ever-present specter of death and tragedy, and the painful hard truth of loss; all help us ground our feelings toward ourselves and our fellow passengers to the grave; to make us the people we never wanted to need to become, for better and for worse.

[ThatDangDad]

As a long-time attendee of poetry open mics, I know it can be hard to know what it say when you think someone's poem sucks. Here's some good lines you can use:
"Wow, I think you brought a really strong voice to this!"
"You played with some really compelling themes there!"
"What I like about your stuff is that it's so... your own. It doesn't just sound like everything else out there."

[fimbles]

really love the laying on of hands line, several others that got me as well but thought I'd point at the specific one that stood out to me

[Coleo]

I really liked that, and I appreciate the call to action of "Write your own weird shit."

[AdamHHI]

Very nice, glad you shared. I'll look forward to future installments :)

[kaykay]

Wowza, that was so eloquently phrased. This poem rocks. Such a hard topic to share, thank you Phil.

[SpikeTheNeuropsych]

I like it, and my first degree was English Lit so maybe I know what I'm talking about.

[tristanneal]

I have a hard time engaging with poetry so I kind of expecting to cringe, but DAMN. This was really good and the end with the hitting your knees after a workout and "a father who *aren't* in heaven" had me finger snapping.

[klf]

I just found this channel and am enjoying it immensely. Thank you. Please don't stop the poems! Let the algorithms fall where they may, at least once in awhile.

[DavidLindes]

0:56 - Your captioning, though!!! Now, to listen to the poem (because I'm not deaf (or Deaf, though I know a _little_ ASL)... so far)...

And... I think I kinda love it. That unsaid word hits home yeah.
P.S. Thank you for the nice PSA at 5:11!

[GillamtheGreatest]

i laughed aloud a few times. some clever lines there

[kingdomarc]

Commenting for the algorithm. I don't really understand poetry myself, but seeing it as a (very) short story, I can say I liked this. Looking forward to more poetry from you!

[ItsAllNunya]

im not feeling things youre feeling things
this hits several personal notes

[riesec]

That was so
The word play... *chefs kiss*

[SarahRoseCO]

Different type of content, but I really liked it! The religious overlay was nice with the imagery of you falling to your knees while worshiping the "iron gods", as it were.

[thisiscameren]

When you said, "the world needs weird shit, " I felt that 🥵I appreciate you sharing this!

I always like likening bodies to machinery, that initial line about the garnet pipe organ was the perfect way to draw me in. It goes in a different direction from there, but I think it still tells an effective, impactful story in a limited space. Bravo!

[WoohooliganComedy]

Nice work, Phil. 💖 I don't write poetry often because I find I often seem to experience a weird kind of brain fog afterward. Something about the process of tuning a rhyme scheme makes it harder for me to re-engage my left brain skills.