A recent viewing of Dead Poets Society reminded me of the power in poetry. One particular line, spoken by Mr. Keating to his students, struck me:

“Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Don’t be resigned to that. Break out!”

We are all Mr. Keating students, so here is poem inspired by his call to action. Carpe diem, as they say.

Desire to Feel
By Joey Lovato

The desire to my life
Is the flesh to my bones
It animates my essence as
I walk wistfully
Through Eve's garden
Tempted not by Apple
But by Adam's Apple
Ever aware of my nakedness
Less I find a leaf
To cover who I am
Or the parts I want to hide

Love is pain
As we enter this world
Intrepid in our first
Taste of sense
Only to learn that
To sense is to feel and
To feel is to know
What we desire
What love is and is not

Knots of anguish
Hands of happiness
Slowly, softly untie me
Of these binds to my own withdrawal
From the pursuit of my desire
For my flesh is my life and
These bones etch a silhouette
Of a soul who craves nothing more than
To animate a life
Not towards happiness
But of it

Tell that silly serpent a story
Of a God who cares not what you are
But what you feel
For we are not just humans being
We are humans feeling
Reaching for meaning
In the depths of worldly distractions
Only to find it when we finally
Close our eyes and
Desire to feel