I Don’t Have Anything to Say

This unfinished chapbook became a spoken word piece. The visuals are collage-based, and it was another collaboration with the musician Myk Baldridge.

Project Type: Experimental
Genres: Spoken Word, Experimental
Runtime: 8 minutes 54 seconds
Completion Date: May 1, 2024

Screenings:

  • Monologues & Poetry International Film Fest, Vallejo, CA, 03.25

  • Beaufort Film Festival, Beaufort, NC, 11.24

  • Down East Flick Fest, Greenville, NC, 09.24

I value the honesty in this chapbook. That’s why I decided to turn it into a film. Having said that, I may not be as pessimistic as some of the poems seem to suggest.

Official Poster

Gratitude

All the things I can do instead of what I can’t.
All the things I have instead of what I don’t.
Gratitude struck me this year.
It struck me like a chronic Illness without warning.
Not that gratitude is bad; it just has a tendency to
get between me and the things I want.

All the things I possess instead of what I want.
All the success in my past instead of future fame
and wealth.
Gratitude lacks empathy, I think.
It hasn’t walked a mile in my shoes.
It hasn’t suffered through my Sunday blues.
It’s somehow thankful for what it’s not, and that’s a lot,
which is one of the reasons I’m nearly an alcoholic.

All the things I am instead of what I’m not.
Oh hell, who am I kidding? It’s just not possible
to be grateful when you’re the one who gave you
everything you’ve got.
If that’s true, then, at the very least,
I could thank myself.
Problem is I’m already blaming myself,
and there’s not room for much of anything else.

Film Still: “That’s Funny”

Film Still: “Gratitude”