In loving memory of the inclusivity and resilience of Maya Angelou
ThePoetry
“Portrait of a Valley Man”
| by Cameron Latchford |
He lives for work and tomorrow’s rush
He lives at her place and mooches so much
Ignores it all and reckons his life is lush
He thinks he’s plush but the truth would make him blush
He wants a girl with long hair and painted nails
Tattoos on her back, metaphorical veils
He wants the image of the woman on his XL shirt
He wants a perfect marble statue he can desert
He never ponders what may unfold,
At the expense of his girl, comes hurtful jokes; or good fun that’s what she’s told
She brushes it off cos she’s conditioned not to be bold
But she wishes deeply he could not be so cold
He seeks a rush, he seeks a high
He wants to fly by and be the bad guy and never ask why
If he doesn’t get his way he may cry
Cos that’s what he does just to get by
He doesn’t please her cos he thinks it’s strange
That she would want him to exchange
Intimacy, and she begs him to change
But he just wants to flirt and disengage
He is the portrait of a valley man
He’s gross and misogyny is his operating plan
I wish he would leave, I’m really no fan
I’ll try to make him leave as soon as I can
“She”
| by Cameron Latchford |
She is not merely a marble slab
Yet she is not a delicious cut of beef
She exists as both;
One and the same.
She chooses.
She could be a gorgeous broccoli
(But that’s all nonsense and fun)
She can be whatever she pleases
That pleases me.
She can’t be controlled
She, she,
She is wild and on fire
Sometimes like a full blaze when she’s hyper
Sometimes like a warm simmer when she’s blazed.
I love her for it
Who wants to control his woman?
That’s dull as all hell
and Hellishly cruel.
Hell is a dull board game
A pointless diversion of sharpened minds
That could be put to better use than
Learning the game
She and I we
Play around and we
Get up to nonsense but
It’s constructive nonsense
Ridiculous as it may be
We hone our minds and
Plan for the future
And she is so bright and beautiful
Yes, shiny eyes and beautiful
Yes, sizzling thoughts and beautiful
Yes, boiling desires and beautiful!
She never fails to amaze me
Take away my breath with her brilliant electricity
She can be whatever she wants to be with consent as the key
She can be.
ThePoets&ThePoetesses
“A Portrait of The Valley of a Man” and “She”
By Cameron Latchford
I am a transfer student here at UC Davis and I currently major in political science! I spend most of my time studying public policy and reading economics textbooks, but when I’m not busy dealing with the quarter system, I like to write poetry, play piano and sing as loud as I possibly can! I enjoy listening to classical music, progressive rock and metal, and I’m very inspired by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Although I originally come from Sunnyvale and Palo Alto in the Bay Area, I’ve lived in many different places over the last few years, and I hope to continue traveling and exploring the world after I finish here at Davis!
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