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Monday, March 13, 2023

New Poems: Ivan Jenson



Human Folly 

 

I overcompensate 

for my inability 

to conform 

or control 

the outcome 

of my income 

and then I overreact 

when time contracts 

and space gives me flack 

for not throwing myself 

into my work 

or for failing 

to play the role 

my soul 

just cannot 

go on faking 

all the while 

making a fuss 

when someone 

throws me under 

the bus in public 

for saying 

what was on

someone else's mind 

guess I'm just a spy 

on my own mind's eye

who will soon be 

made obsolete 

by a bot or AI 

 

 

 

 

 

Fade Out 

 

The ending 

has begun 

the winding down 

of fun in the sun 

the side glances 

from those 

in the throes 

of actual romances 

while the factual 

is all practical 

as you spot 

some random rapture 

while being put 

out to pasture 

all because 

there's no pride 

in lousy posture 

and posterity 

is about all you'll 

get from eternity 

while women 

invent time 

all over again 

with their maternity 

you make 

the grave mistake 

of sleeping 

through your 

very own wake 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Reality 

 

Universe 

is this the best

that you can do?

the grey or blue above 

the oh-so-predictable 

rinse and repeat 

cycles of love 

the wonderful 

or terrible variables 

of the tumble dry 

wrinkle-free cloak 

of these dimensions 

that surround us like

theatre curtains 

opening and closing 

on this three-act play 

where everyone is 

either Hamlet 

or Juliet 

while feeling 

more like Ophelia 

floating on the 

river of ripples 

or tidal waves 

and yet within 

this tsunami 

I continue to create 

the tiny word origami 

made of carefully 

folded words 

simply known 

as poetry 

 

 

 

 

 

Iconic Romantic 

 

I remember 

when the lungs

of laughter 

collapsed 

like a star-struck 

heart broken fan 

of a celebrity 

who was cancelled 

over a scandal 

involving semantics 

and all that frantic 

hullabaloo 

was a helluva 

time for fame 

and fortunately 

I learned to smile 

again without the aid 

of pharmaceuticals 

knowing that depression 

is simply seasonal 

while coincidentally 

I found love 

could be reciprocal 

and no longer 

had the need 

to be cynical 

or down

since a heart's 

pitter pat 

is the cyclical 

pacemaker 

which makes 

the world 

go round 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Bug 

 

 

I'm a grifter 

smitten 

by the spontaneous 

combustion 

of seeing you 

in tight leather 

and your spiked heels 

give me all sorts 

of feels 

because you steal 

every scrap 

of dignity 

from me 

a guy 

who gets by 

like a fly 

on the wall 

whose buzz

is really 

all he's got 

and this unflappable 

energy 

will always be

too fast

to swat 

 

 

 

 

 

Gut Reaction 

 

I often 

second guess 

my first hunch 

while mistrusting 

my intuition 

when I am in 

a compromising 

position or an awkward 

situation where everything 

feels like an imposition 

yet I never let 'em see 

me sweat tears 

nor do I show my years 

instead I play numb 

and cop a plea 

deal with the cards

I'm dealt 

and then I bluff 

in the buff 

while feeling

really round 

like a Mr. Potato 

when the chips 

are down 




Ivan Jenson is a fine artist, novelist and popular contemporary poet who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

His artwork was featured in Art in America, Art News, and Interview Magazine and has sold at auction at Christie’s. Amongst Ivan’s commissions are the final portrait of the late Malcolm Forbes and a painting titled “Absolut Jenson” for Absolut Vodka’s national ad campaign. His Absolut paintings are in the collection of the Spritmuseum, the museum of spirits in Stockholm, Sweden. Jenson’s painting of the “Marlboro Man” was collected by the Philip Morris corporation. 

His novels, Dead Artist and Seeing Soriah, illustrate the creative, often dramatic lives of artists. Jenson’s poetry is widely published (with over 1000 poems published in the US, UK and Europe) in a variety of literary media. He has published a poetry book, Media Child and Other Poems, and two novels, Marketing Mia and Erotic Rights

Mundane Miracles, his critically acclaimed poetry collection, hit number 1 on Amazon in American Poetry.

Ivan Jenson’s website: www.ivanjenson.com
Twitter: @IvanJenson


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