Ring My Bell
By Jo-Ryan Salazar
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Poem 6: Kagura ( Rivals by Nature
I love competition.
Every second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, era.
You breathe, drink, eat, and sleep competition.
You live and die by success of failure.
Even if that competition
Is you friend,
Your sister,
Your brother,
Or that cousin who acts spoiled.
You compete. I compete. We compete.
I know a lot of friends that live and die by competition.
They are few among many.
After the competition's finished, tensions ease
But you just keep running, jumping, swimming,
Maybe get your hands full and grab some boobs
Like my obnoxious friend with the Fujiko complex
Who I have a mild aversion
But love the same.
Competition leads to camaraderie.
Camaraderie leads to respect.
Respect leads to trust.
Trust leads to love.
Love leads to madness.
Madness leads to devotion.
Devotion leads to commitment.
Commitment leads to preparation.
Preparation leads to competition.
And it starts again.
I will not be denied.
I will not be defeated.
I will not succumb to a loss
Resulting from a lack of devotion,
A lack of preparation,
A lack of affirmation
In any location,
Whether by the sea,
By the gym,
By the pool,
By the track,
Or wherever you want to prove yourself.
I will be there.
I know how good my friends can be.
I know how cool my friends can be.
I know how smart my friends can be.
I know how steroids can wipe my friends
Of the attributes mentioned.
I can say, I give up, I concede.
Or I can say, Yeah, but that was a warm-up.
I say neither,
And I say, Go!
The electric energy above is in an emerald color,
As emerald as the hills of a place
Some will call Raspberry Heaven, others Bliss,
Others an overhyped, plain Windows XP wallpaper.
I run from one corner of the world to the other.
Speed courses through my veins,
My heart, my lungs, my muscles, my bones.
It is on full throttle, and it never stops.
It knows that to succeed, you must triumph.
And when one triumphs, one already has a respect
For her rival.
It is green, and it stays green.
I won't lose tomorrow. Not now, not ever.
Let's go forward, friend.
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End Poem 6