In an effort to get people to look
into each other’s eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly one hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear
without saying hello. In the restaurant
I point at chicken noodle soup.
I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover,
proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn’t respond,
I know she’s used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

The Quiet World, Jeffrey McDaniel (via saltatory)

Legends of Slam

Jeffrey McDaniel represented Washington DC at the 1994 and ‘95 National Poetry Slams and Venice Beach (California) in the 1998 National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas. McDaniel has not performed in a poetry slam since the late 1990s. He has however been involved with the youth slam movement Brave New Voices. McDaniel Has released four volumes of poetry most recently The Endarkenment (2008) - University of Pittsburgh Press. He has taught creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.