Editor’s Note + Poem
Restless
A found poem on the occasion of Volume 1 of the Restless journal
By: Rich Villar
Everything
is everything,
restless. Still--
Can't complain. We tryna to get
to this class. We
tryna get
this paper. Lemme get up
with you later.
My sister got problems.
Landlord bugging.
Mad papers due,
and I'm stuck on something,
you know me
going through it
I keep it pushing
stay focused
They stay---
trying me, son
you know me
this is when keepin' it real
goes wrong
oh! what you know
bout that song
youngin'
oh! what you know
bout that praxis
bro
BRO.
they wilin' out here
can't find no rhythm
no hector lavoe
no bell biv devoe
no jazz pockets
no red glare's rockets
no reason no rhyme
no getting back time
just learning to push
Zoom in Zoom out
I'm restless out here
but you know me.
We gonna figure it out.
We--
and by we, I mean all
of us--
we going through it:
restless, transition,
take time give time,
consider crossings, no time
to dream,
barely time to sleep.
We going through it:
sidewalks uneven
portals and split screens
trains, cars, cities, more cities,
imagination, its lack of signposts,
linearity. A good poem is movement--
shot to shot,
line to line,
moment to moment. Movement
is a noun, we learn.
Movement is 12:15, 1:15, 2:15, 3:15
cinder blocks, yellow brick roads,
tan and green and grime,
time can be relentless
makes us restless
upon conditional release date
upon flat bid paperwork
upon the scattering of time
upon the buzzing iron gate
upon reclamation of our days, a harvest
old habits die the hardest
on the chow, fellas
but sometimes a good talk
or a two hour walk
can be a choice, unconfined
landscapes defined by self
despite high curbs, no perfect circles,
miles to go.
A slammed door is a question mark--
a marker of manhood.
Some times are bitter.
Some times are sweet.
Everything is everything
Abolition is geography
Love is borderless
Freedom is a place
(says Wilson Gilmore)
and it lurks all around us
(says Baldwin)
and we
make it back here
home, time and again
restless,
and our own