Louis Toliver Jr. reads at Louisiana Words Live: New Year, New Words on Sunday, January 12th, 2025 at The Allways Lounge & Cabaret in New Orleans, LA. 

 Sam Ray reads at Louisiana Words Live: New Year, New Words on Sunday, January 12th, 2025 at The Allways Lounge & Cabaret in New Orleans, LA. 

It took awhile To push past the bad The negativity and hurt But once it happened It was as if a flower bloomed Inside of me And my heart grew larger Yet smaller Larger to hold more love More happiness and joy Smaller to expel the dampening effects Of the annoyances The heartbreaks and the failures Less things to drag me down Allowing me to love with all of me.

Some of it's pleasure  Some of it's pain, Sometimes feeling like the broken tracks Of a crazy train, Knowing the ride can be fun, Knowing it's mostly scary, Sometimes feeling like the broken emotions Need to be buried, Sometimes some make up, Sometimes none at all, Wondering if esteem, or hope and faith Will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all, Knowing the who people see, Will surely soon die, Being reborn a new life, To girl from guy, But never did The guy exist, You knew he was a mask, The girl wore to hide Happiness missed, Growing tired of the heat costumed, Tearing away the disguise, The buried girl inside exhumed, The first sight of sunshine, The first breath of fresh air, The first ever smile worn, Without giving a care, Of what society thinks, Of what the public will say, Stepping out the door, The first time as you today, The whispers The looks The bait on the hooks, Misleading the guys some say, The lure unintended, You just are who you are, A broken lif...

I know that sometimes what I see isn’t what I see. I know that sometimes what I hear isn’t what I hear. I know that sometimes what I think isn’t what I think. I know that sometimes what I feel isn’t what I feel. I know that my eyes are for sight; not vision. I know that my ears are for sound; not listening. I know that my mind is for thoughts; not understanding. I know that my heart is for passion; not loving. I know this because my eyes can see what no else can see. I know this because my ears can hear what no one else can hear. I know this because my mind can think what no one else can think. I know this because my heart can feel what no one else can feel. I know that what I can see with my own eyes can help me to envision others more clearly. I know that what I can hear with my own ears can help me to listen to others with complete understanding. I know that what I think with my own mind can help me to inspire others in faith, hope and love. And I know that what I feel with my own h...

 

 

 

Noah Tapper reads at Louisiana Words Live: New Year, New Words on Sunday, January 12th at the Always Lounge & Cabaret.

  Paige McRae reads at  Louisiana Words Live: New Year, New  Words on Sunday, January 12th at the Always Lounge & Cabaret.

 

r ender me senseless and I'll show u shamelessness u can't extinguish this this intenseness u'll never bear for us let's keep the resistance at a level of constance for all existence we'll ride them shitless

I kind of miss you But its hard to miss someone that doesn't care When I surround myself With people that love me truly I feel loved Imagine that! People that enjoy my company and act like it Not just when its convenient Or unavoidable Or even just when I ask to see you No big deal though Even though this is hurtful I've been through way worse I'll just console myself With people who actually are interested in me I'm sorry my life isn't dramatic enough for you To take the time of day to text me Or catch up For any reason much less the simple fact that you love me Just be honest and admit That you don't.

S ensing that I am okay E xpecting that everything is just as it should be R especting my rights to have and express my feelings E njoying the tranquility in my life N ever giving up on myself I ntuitively knowing that I am who I strive to become T eaching others through my experience and my truth Y earning for the best of myself always

  Les Patin reads at Louisiana Words Live: New Year, New Words on Sunday, January 12th at the Always Lounge & Cabaret.

  Louis Toliver Jr. introduces Louisiana Words Live and discusses how Louisiana Words works for the community.

Look into my eyes tell me what you see Look beneath the lies tell me what will be Listen to my cries help me off my knees Listen to my "whys" help me find the key  Lift me to the skies  teach me how to flee Lift me from the ties  teach me to be free Look into my fears  tell me what is real  Look beneath my tears  tell me how to deal  Listen while I'm here help me to reveal  Listen while I'm near help me to be healed Lift me from the smear  teach me what to seal Lift me and appear teach me how to feel

I n Dustin Gaspard’s song, “Just a Little”, he asks, “Am I living longer or just dying slower?” There have been many times in my life that I’ve pondered the same thing. I had spent the past twenty-seven years trying to recreate my first fifteen seconds of fame by devoting my second attempt at success in life to making my next fifteen seconds of fame mean something different; I succeeded each time, but different didn’t necessarily mean good. Beginning the journey of my second life was also the beginning of my downfall into the abyss of alcoholism and substance abuse. I saw my life spiraling out of control but refused to do anything to make the rest of my life any better; I was dying anyway, so it really didn’t matter. I remember seeing a movie called “The Help”, which began to change the trajectory of my life in only my second year of sobriety. There is a line near the end of the movie where Allison Janney’s character, Charlotte, tells her daughter, Skeeter (played by Emma Stone), that,...

Her eyes were dark  Like the petals on a dying rose Cloudy as the smoke that trailed from her lips The day had worn her down She felt like the used eraser at the end of a pencil, nothing left but the harsh metal rim Her body wanted sleep Folding into the chair as if she were sinking into a lover's embrace Her glass tipping, falling from her fingertips And crashing to the floor in spearlike fragments