It’s Not Too Late

Travis Hupp

Looks like I'll have to do things differently

No more hitting and missing intermittently

Gotta buckle down and not knuckle under

Reclaim my mind and unearth wonder

Howling dogs and circling bats

New dawn awaits and darkness won't last

Yesterday droned on destitute

My meaning got lost and

my muse went mute

but there's a part of me that still

knows what to do

Power through and write what's true

What's true is I've been stuck here

coming unglued

Eyes shut tight conjuring up a better view

than the sorry sight of the

aimless life I've led

letting liars and defilers get in my head

Enough of that and enough of losing

Enough blood bled and

enough ego bruising

I'll limp towards love til I'm fit to outrun

demons and downfalls

with shackles undone

I've got friends I know would hide me

from the consequences I've been inviting

but I can face into the fire

and find the poems burning down inspires

I always knew I wasn't born to wallow

without evolving cocooned in squalor

Without challenging the trauma traders

who corrupt you, crush you

and leave you cratered

So I say here and now I'm in this fight

I'll stop living wrong and

fumble towards right

I'll make my mother in Heaven feel proud

I'll show up on time to

show what I'm about

It's something I learned but

forgot to remember

when every turn I took

was another dead ender

When every trick I knew the devil knew too

When tawdry temptation was

a damn heady brew

I can't unwaste a single day

but I can pray it's not too late

I can't shoulder sad sick shame

so I'm setting out to redeem my name

I'm here and I'll recognize what's mine

Grab what I'm given tight

when stars align

I won't say fuck it I'll say faster

Speed is my steed for skirting disaster

More from Travis Hupp ↓

• @poetryoftravishupp on Instagram
• His book American Entropy is out now through Atmosphere Press.

Mentioned in this episode:

Write After: National Poetry Month with One Poem Only

Write After is a way to encourage poets to listen and write, and use National Poetry Month to highlight how listening to poetry makes us better poets. I know I write the best when I’m surrounded by beautiful poetry–it’s part of the reason I created this podcast, and I want to encourage others to share this practice. We'll get started in April. You can share to #WriteAfterOPO.

#WriteAfterOPO