“Extra”
By: Dennis Cockerham
Do you remember
Back in school
The teacher would ask a question
Half the class
Would raise their hands
He just yells out the answer
Have you ever been
At that concert
The one where
That person
Next to you
Has vocals
Louder than the band
Or
How about the grocery store
In an aisle
With that person
Who thinks you need to hear
Loud and clear
Both sides of the conversation
They are having
On their cell phone
Well
Nice to meet you
I guess
I need
No more introduction
That is me
I am
That guy
Of course
The answers in school
Were usually wrong
I miss
Or change a lot of the lyrics
And
Nobody is on the other line anyway
But
None of that
Stops me
2 ears and 1 mouth
For a reason
The way that I see it
Me and my input
We are starting out
With a deficit
Attention
We all want it
We measure ourselves by it
We reward others with it
Obey your thirst
Ya right
Even as a child
Receiving gifts was great
But
Just to be acknowledged
By the presence
Of the parent
That hug
That tuck in
That
You want to be with me today
That is what it was all about
One could
make the argument
That our life
It is defined
By what we give our attention to
Take a deeper look
Most necessities
Are taken care of
With a minimum
The rest
It is about
The luxury
The tickle my fancy
Or
As I like to call it
The
Take a look at me
Why the Porsche over the Beetle
Why
The house over the trailer
The Apple over the Android
Preference
How did you choose
Who made you aware
That their was a choice to be made
How many times
Were these facts
Brought to your attention
Before
Your expectation
Created
This exact outcome
How about love
If it is not
The giving and receiving
Of specific attention
Between people
Then you define it differently
And then there is me
The only attention
That i ever received
Was negative
But
I did not know
To call it that
I just knew
That I got it
Learned
To create it
Anticipate it
And to go to all lengths
To get it
Just like the rest of you
I have got in my own way
More than once
The class clown
To the principal’s office
The life of the party
To somebody please (Link previous Post)
Cut him off
Most recently
The
Give me some of that
To
I don’t know how to stop
But
It is also
This same origin
That has me expressing myself
With these words
Today
These same circumstances
Same events
Same pain
It is them
That bring the relief
The joy
The appreciation
The recognition
The transformation
It is
In this reaching out
that the ability
Is born
To grab onto something new
One of the last times
I went to the store
here at the prison camp
I purchased
20 large manila envelopes
The officer at the check out
Asked me
What are you going to do
With all of those
I replied
When nobody wants to hear
What you have to say
You mail it out
In bulk
I have been told
If I want to hear
A message
I might first
Need to shut up
This also
Has proven to be true
I am a work in progress
I am okay with that
Emmet Fox said
We should be in awe
Of the things
People carry with them
Instead of the judge
Of how they carry it
The kid in the classroom
The guy at the concert
And the person in the store
The beaten child
Screaming
Please
No more
Who is to say
Which is he
Who is to say
Whom each will be
For I am who I am
As I write this now
The fact that you pay attention
it helps some how
Today
My youngest son
Calls me
EXTRA
Like too much
Or Over the top
I wear that like a badge of honor
I can be needy
I can be loud
I can demand
Attention
Where I got
Is from where I come
But
The departure
Does not determine
The destination
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