Give me a poet who does not know
violence like the inside of their
mouths, their tongues running
across it to smooth the groove.
Give me a poet who does not know
what it means for injustice to take
root and become its own narrative.
Give me a poet who is not afraid
of the things they write and I will
tell you that they are not poets.
Give me a better way to phrase
my desires without being
prescriptivist, without being
the gatekeeper at the entrance
of hell. Give me a directory
where I can classify every poet
into their own schisms and schemes,
every line into its intended effect.
Give me a poet who is not afraid
of what other poets may write
and I will tell you again they
are not trying hard enough.
Give me a poet who dares to spit
poetry onto every workable surface
regardless of rules, laws, regulations,
convention, cliche and popularity.
Give me a poet who is in love
with love, who hates hate, who
hates love and loves hate, and
I will show you that all poets are.
Give me a poet who can write
outside of themselves, and I will
say that’s the same as within.
Give me a poet who is not a
mobius strip, a poet who is
not a knife, a poet who is not
the reincarnated pre-dead spirit
of their parents, their loved ones,
give me a poet who is not a wound,
not a gash, not a mark on a busy
highway, or a red-laced exam paper,
give me a poet who is everything
in the world and nothing at once,
give me a poet who still believes in
poetry, in nothing, give me a poet
that believes that they will be
inevitably bested and forgotten.

Freewriting Explanation: Every day, Valen shall use 5 minutes to write completely unprompted and uninterrupted, letting the words lead the way. There is no end purpose to each piece, but rather, the pieces are allowed to develop naturally in their own way. The pieces are then uploaded without edits.