by Chris Courtney Martin
See you soon. Kiss you soon.
Head over heels. Over the moon.
Clichés will come. And soon they go.
Fools rush in fast. Then time, it slows.
Take my breath. Take my hand.
Stand by me. For which I stand.
Clichés will come. And then they leave.
I bite your thumb. Heart upon sleeve.
If 'Boy Meets Girl', that leaves me where?
You want Her back. But She's not there.
Clichés 4ever. Etched in a tree.
Apart together. You + Me.
I walk alone. You walk away.
I watch you leave. Beg you to stay.
Clichés abound. But you'll come around.
I'll look you up. If I'm back in town.
I didn't know. You never said.
Conceal your feel. And hang your head.
Clichés for real. I'll never heal.
Gone off the rails. Let go of the wheel.
You had it bad. I got it worse.
Will you say 'I do' to who's on you first?
Clichés, my God. What can I say?
There's nothing worse than cliché, cliché...
Have and hold. Hold your breath.
Do you scold the concept of death?
Clichés, no more. Come to my door.
Know what I need. Been waiting for.
And we've been sleepwalking eleven damn years.
Tip-talking around our deepest fears.
Cliché is you. Cliché is me.
Am I Julia? And you, Richie G?
And I know a ghost when I see one glide.
Ain't it just the most? My new wild side?
Cliché'd to hell. If you rang my bell,
I would still be thirty minutes away, and I say--
I pray you shot the chunky monkey off of your back.
If you find that you want me, then you know where I'm at.
Used to wasting my breath. Going, 'Anyways…'
Looks like we'll be a cliché the rest of our days.
Cliché…
Cliché, cliché.
Cliché has previously been published on PoemHunter and Martin's personal Tumblr.
About the author:
Chris Courtney Martin is a Black Non-Binary/Queer writer-producer-psychic originally from Philadelphia, PA. In 2014, they graduated from Drexel University with a degree in Screenwriting and Playwriting, with dual Minors in Film & Video and Art History. Their time in undergrad yielded publication in The Triangle (student newspaper) and the school's annual anthology, The 33rd. Martin's screenwriting credits include "PALE HORSE"-- the upcoming feature directorial debut of Gabourey Sidibe, along with smaller projects starring legendary talent such as Sheryl Lee Ralph and Niecy Nash. With their unproduced screenplays having garnered several accolades, including wins at Urbanworld and Emerging Screenwriters as well as mentions on the Young & Hungry and Bitch Lists, Martin sees a return to poetry and other literature to be the next test of their writing chops. Their hybrid chapbook of poems and essays titled THE BOOK OF I.P. (Idle Poems) is available in paperback on Amazon as of June 16th, 2022.