A poem by Jason Barbee

Poetry, The Ogdenite 2022

It seems that for better or
for worse
You are my muse and my nurse.
I could fix my mental health
without meds
But I've got too much shit to do, to
work on my head
A shot should solve the symptoms
Overestimating my income
Learning lessons,
projecting wisdom
Is anyone buying this?
Is it worth it?
I can't afford your services
Poverty perverted
Romance and the starving artist
Hungry for a little happiness
Stealing sustenance wherever i am
Eating hastily over a garbage can
My belly sings of late
night loneliness
nervous ticks and Small talk
Checking my wrist, there is
no clock
Stuffing your silhouette
Down into the Oubliette
With all the things I'm trying
to forget
Synchronicities and phrasing for
a rhyme
Squeezing meaning
from everything
Affecting no one. Who has
the time?
Dancing in 4/4, looking for
the door
Idolizing idleness
Going very slowly
Irish goodbyes, I can't stay here.
I often question why; how queer.
Waxing poetic at a long
dead romance
Ghostwriting complex
Muscle memory with no intents
Compulsively Penning texts
Keeping it all a secret
Decomposing

Ogden-based poet Jason Barbee.
Image courtesy of Jason Barbee

Jason Barbee is a Utah-native and poet since the age of 16 who cooks in two kitchens on Historic 25th Street - Table 25 and Lighthouse Lounge - in the city of Ogden where he’s resided since 2015. Self-described as a “hopeless romantic and probably autistic,” he can be found shooting pool in the bars around town or “attempting to be an adult or translating booze into words.”