I hate you so much But I Love You Even More

Selected poems by Mark Johnson

A note from the author. I would just like to dedicate this book to all of humanity. They are the ones that gave me

inspiration for this book, and they deserve to be credited with it. Without them, I would never be able to have written these poems. My poetry is designed to evoke wildly different emotions within the reader so that they become confused while reading it. They may be happy after reading a certain poem and then move on to one that is sadder, but they will have a happy attitude towards it while reading so the meaning becomes skewed. The same goes for reading a sad poem then reading a happier one. Ideally the order in which one reads the poems has an effect on how they perceive them. I personally really like poetry, but find it irritating when the meaning is hidden underneath thousands of layers so that somebody has to analyze a poem half to death before stumbling upon the meaning. I like poems that mean what they say they do, or at least take very little time to understand the meaning of. I also prefer poems to have an actual story instead of just being a mood piece. I write poems from start to finish, and I come up with the story along the way, but I have a very clear idea of what the poem is. My personal favorite poem is poem number 2, which is and ode because it is one that I wrote while in an extremely bad mood and is designed to help someone not be in such a bad mood. I would rewrite the last poem in the packet because it is a sonnet, and while I like sonnets, I initially wrote the same poem as a free verse that I liked a lot more, but one of the requirements of this packet is to write a sonnet. The only imagery I chose for this packet was to color the text in the set of haikus that I wrote, in addition to playing around with fonts and sizes, which is because I felt that images wouldnt help the poems.

Bad Choices

by Mark Johnson

I hear a noise from right outside The sound of a car coming up the drive

I close my eyes and fake a snore Just thankful that she is alive

She stumbles up to the big green door And drops her keys down on the floor I can smell the wine from way up here

And it saddens me to my very core

She knows not how much I fear If only she could see it clear

Why must she go out all night? I wish that she would just stay here

But that will not happen tonight

Even though she knows Im right If she ever hopes to stay alive

But neither of us have the will to fight

Nice by Mark Johnson

Smiling lights up the faces of so many

That lady was kind to me At the supermarket

So I helped her pick out some oranges And we were friends

Flowers bloom in the spring Birds rely on them The flowers, that is

So selfless Such a sweet song

On such a sweet day But they do not see

The beauty in the music they make But I do

I like to sing I like to laugh

I like to pop bubble wrap I like to sleep

I like other people I like you.

I like that you have Another opinion

That isnt mine And mine isnt yours

I like that girl The pretty one

Who just smiled right at me Was she smiling at me? Or was it something else?

Hopefully I wont ever find out So I can stay hopeful But why do I need her When there is so much

So much beauty? Maybe it would just be nice

It would be nice So nice.

Faces by Mark Johnson

Look up at the moon

Right now Do you see the face?

So do I. At the moment

It is the only thing That we can both see My mother has seen

That face Your father has seen

That face The president has seen

That face The Queen has seen

That face The quidam has seen

That face Adolf Hitler has seen

That face Columbus has seen

That face Cleopatra has seen

That face Caesar has seen

That face Every man And woman

In all of human history Has seen that face

And right now It is

The only thing That connects you

With them Every

Important, or Kind, or Evil, or Powerful Person

In all of human history Ever

Middle Ground by Mark Johnson

I feel better now Why cant I always feel good? Sadness will come back Ascending upwards Not in an elevator But with a staircase Try to paint with words It will make you feel better Instead of crying What goes with French fries? Ketchup and barbeque sauce Just not mustard please Sitting on a hill Its springtime and I feel good Why wouldnt I feel good?

Red Wind, Brown Sea by Mark Johnson

I can see the blood red wind slowly rise

Gliding over the pale brown ocean Resulting in a man who is now free

But he must remain in careful disguise And though all men can hear his hallowed cries

None shall ever care to learn who is he And when I ask, the results will vary He has told far too many painful lies

He managed to break through his golden chains But all of it came at a heavy price

His eyes have become dark black and wild And now there are only the sad remains Of that life where he turned away all vice He never did want that sad small child