I Got Lucky
by Daulton Reppert
I grew up here,
And some parts are nice,
Sure.
Not the parts we belong to.
But I've been among the monsters
delving to the depths with
seventh street sinners
And I was dancing with my demons
under the streetlight massacres of our innocence
I was there
As a part of the places they told us never to go
And I was there
In the dark corners buried under bridges built by men who will one day live under them.
And I got lucky
And I am SO lucky,
Because
The moment you realize
that nobody
REALLY gives a damn about you,
Is the moment a part of your childhood dies.
See fundamental parenting consists of
Sharing is caring
Don't tell lies
And if you have nothing...
Nice to say...
But a serrated tongue is a celebrated feature for those who were not taught these basic things.
Not everybody had something to share
but the shirt on their back
and the story that goes with it,
Sometimes
lying is life or death
but the truth
was a guarantee
That the sun doesn't rise tomorrow.
And if you don't have anything NICE to say,
Then ask
Ask
what they did to deserve the cut of your tongue
and the puff of smoke
shaped just like you
standing where you once stood
Ask
what you did to deserve
the way your first loves treated you
when they gave you up,
or ran away,
or kept the baby they didn't want
Ask them
Ask why they didn't give a damn
about where you were when the street lights turned on
Or when the cops were taking our friends away
Or when you discovered the love
a drink
could breathe into the broken space between these jagged ribs.
You ask them and watch
See how they refuse to answer.
Though if you ask and they do speak up
you make damn sure
That you are ready to hear
what they have to say
Because they don't care about you
Or your feelings.
But don't you dare
let THEM ask
"where did I go wrong?"
Because when you asked them the same,
You never got an answer,
So why should they?
What are your poetic muses? What calls you to the artform?
I feel as though I've been writing forever. I was a young kid, maybe 10 or 12 when I started experiencing signs of depression and that's common unfortunately, but writing always helped. It started out as journaling and then I picked up guitar and it became music and what is music but poetry with a tune? Ya know and every teenage emo kid had writing. I hadn't ever considered the form I have now because 'slam poetry' always had kind of a negative stigma but I'll never forget the day one summer, I was lying in bed after waking up just before noon. I laid there scrolling social media when I happened upon the poem “OCD” by Neil Holborn. It was like nothing I'd heard before and I was hooked. I began searching for more and I've found so many fantastic poets, though Button Poetry gets kind of a bad rap, I discovered some of my favorite writers through them.
You are a parent. When do you find time to write? What gets you motivated to turn the blank page into a poem?
It's all about the small moments. My mind is constantly in art form, ever thinking and ever flowing. A good friend of mine Cord Moreski, he was with myself and Florence (my partner and other half of the magazine) and we had a conversation about this exact thing. We talked about life and how anything and everything can be an experience, and thus, a poem. Astigmatism, fear, love, sadness, turning the other cheek, being petty and loving it. That's a poem he kept saying and it is exactly how I see the world. It takes less than thirty seconds to open my phone and throw a thought into my notes. And that's a poem. I can build onto it, or when I feel very strongly I can write the whole piece in one go. Some of my favorites are ones that I've written in minutes. And all of my writing is solely experience. If I don't feel it I don't write it. I can't bs a poem about the moon or what it's like to be happy because I don't always know. But you bet I can tell you what it's like to watch my best friend throw his life away on a drink or watch my hero experience depression for the first time in his life. It's brutal. But it's honest. And I was raised to be an honest man.
Being vulnerable like that, there's nothing quite like it. To open your soul and let a room full of strangers stare in, knowing what they're seeing as you stare back. It's freeing in a way I can't even begin to describe and THAT'S what brings me to the empty page time and time again.
What other mediums do you work in? I believe you play music as well. Is there overlap in the different creative processes?
Generally I'm just poetry these days. I help where I can with the magazine and we have a show we do hosted at Nowhere Coffee Co. in Allentown, and it's an incredible thing. I try and do features where I can and I'd love to work on other projects in the near future. As far as overlap, absolutely there is. Music is my getaway, ya know? There's not a moment in the day that I'm not singing to myself, thinking of songs that I love, finding new music, or enjoying nostalgia. Every silent second of my life is filled with music, and like I said before, all music is poetry. Every piece I write is a potential song or poem. Every concept and idea is art to me, music.
Music is something that saved me from more than a few breakdowns, and poetry is a close second. With that in mind, I don't think it's possible to keep them apart.
You are half of Poetry as Promised Literary Magazine. Tell us a little bit about this project and the kind of work you are hoping to publish.
I am half, technically. I don't do a whole lot of the work. Minor details here and there like helping with some design choices, helping decide what to accept or deny, things of that nature. Otherwise Florence is the primary care for this project and they do such a wonderful job. We have a few ideas for project related to the magazine but those are for the future more than anything. These ideas will involve me a little more than the magazine, but there is a lot to look forward to from P.A.P.’s magazine, and we hope everybody is as excited as we are. As far as what we publish, I mean we are so enthusiastic to support all art. We only have a few rules, but generally anything and everything is welcome. Poetry, short stories, photography and illustrations, anything.
The rules being:
1) Consent is key, if it's questionable it will be rejected.
2) Oedipus is not our friend. Mothers are beautiful but please don't tell us if it goes deeper.
3) And age is VERY important. We don't want incriminating pieces or anything predatory, please.
We work hard to foster creativity, love, and acceptance within our community, so this is the least we can do to protect our readers and contributors.
Where can readers find more of your writing/listen to you read your work?
Unfortunately right now the only way you'll hear my work is on some social media or at our show/shows we attend. I would absolutely love to put a book out as many of my friends have, but I'm just not there yet. I'm working hard to get enough together so I finally can put a book out, and I hope everybody will be excited to get a piece when I do. I haven't quite decided on how else to put my work out there just yet but I am, as most poets are, desperate for people to see me, as silly as it sounds. I genuinely love having people remember the poem’s name or talking to me about what a line meant to them, so hopefully soon I'll have a way to share that.
Daulton Reppert is 26-year-old poet born and raised in Allentown, PA.
Spends most of his time working and taking care of his family
He’s been writing since he was a teenager but started performing at Billy Mack's No-Mic Open Mic at the Coffee House Without Limits. From there he pursued performing further but ended up having to take a hiatus. He later came back to writing and performing through attending the NJ Renaissance shows and is back better than ever.
John Wojtowicz grew up working on his family’s azalea and rhododendron nursery in the backwoods of what Ginsberg dubbed “nowhere Zen New Jersey.” Currently, he works as a licensed clinical social worker and adjunct professor. He has been featured on Rowan University’s Writer’s Roundtable on 89.7 WGLS-FM and several of his poems were chosen to be exhibited in Princeton University's 2021 Unique Minds: Creative Voices art show at the Lewis Center for the Arts. He has been nominated 3x for a Pushcart Prize and serves as the Local Lyrics contributor for The Mad Poets Society Blog. His debut chapbook Roadside Oddities: A Poetic Guide to American Oddities was released in early 2022 and can be purchased at www.johnwojtowicz.com. John lives with his wife and two children in Upper Deerfield, NJ.