TELL YOU WHAT
by Carlos Ornelas
Don't worry about salvation, live as if you were damned already.
Drink mimosas in the eve and miss church on purpose.
Have God visit your house for a change.
Listen to priests confess their sins to you and give them a penitence
of 5 bloody marys and 2 shots of tequila.
Laugh at the unfulfilled expectations that the world bombarded you with
since a youth.
Make a bucket list with one item,
Item number one: make a bucket list.
Cross it out and throw the list in a bucket and say fuck it.
THROW AWAY YOUR PASSPORT and I.D., go to mexico
and try to talk your way back into the US, or cross the border illegally.
write love poems in beautiful gilded sheets of paper, place them in envelopes, spray them with Chanel and give them to strangers.
Spend a week in a shelter and try not to weep....
Invent a posse of imaginary friends.
Become a graffiti artist in your town. Join a local gang and try to convince your fellow gang members to throw carwash fundraisers for the homeless
paint self portraits of your conscience,
sing national anthems of different countries.
Fast on thanksgiving.
And give nothing but sincere smiles for xmas.
Look for the angriest person you can find and shower them compliments.
Stop the first bus you see, hand the driver a hundred dollar bill and tell him, I'm buyin today.
Buy yourself a used outfit and an instrument. Tell strangers your secrets, find reasons to laugh out loud at least once an hour.
Start a community garden in someone else's community.
Walk to your local dmv and give them back your driver’s license demanding a refund.
Spoil yourself on valentines night.
Buy yourself a toy you always wanted as a kid but your parents never bought for you.
Donate haikus to the blind, create a 5 minute comedy act and perform it for the terminally ill.
Go to jerusalem and build a small temple in honor of all the Gods that never had a temple there.
Host an open mic that only uses sign language
Send an anonymous bouquet of flowers on mother’s day to a mother who recently lost a child.
Attend a stranger's funeral and be a shoulder for someone to cry on.
Buy a 24 pack of water bottles, Go to your nearest home depot parking lot and handout water to day laborers.
Write down everything you ever disliked about yourself, and set the paper on fire. Then, whole heartedly, forgive yourself for it.
Instead of complaining about the things that upset you, complain about the excessive amount of blessings you have gotten over time.
Write poems from the perspective of others until you understand the similarity between all our common differences.
You are free to do as you please . . .
But whatever you do . . .
never let a poem tell you what to do.
by Carlos Ornelas
Don't worry about salvation, live as if you were damned already.
Drink mimosas in the eve and miss church on purpose.
Have God visit your house for a change.
Listen to priests confess their sins to you and give them a penitence
of 5 bloody marys and 2 shots of tequila.
Laugh at the unfulfilled expectations that the world bombarded you with
since a youth.
Make a bucket list with one item,
Item number one: make a bucket list.
Cross it out and throw the list in a bucket and say fuck it.
THROW AWAY YOUR PASSPORT and I.D., go to mexico
and try to talk your way back into the US, or cross the border illegally.
write love poems in beautiful gilded sheets of paper, place them in envelopes, spray them with Chanel and give them to strangers.
Spend a week in a shelter and try not to weep....
Invent a posse of imaginary friends.
Become a graffiti artist in your town. Join a local gang and try to convince your fellow gang members to throw carwash fundraisers for the homeless
paint self portraits of your conscience,
sing national anthems of different countries.
Fast on thanksgiving.
And give nothing but sincere smiles for xmas.
Look for the angriest person you can find and shower them compliments.
Stop the first bus you see, hand the driver a hundred dollar bill and tell him, I'm buyin today.
Buy yourself a used outfit and an instrument. Tell strangers your secrets, find reasons to laugh out loud at least once an hour.
Start a community garden in someone else's community.
Walk to your local dmv and give them back your driver’s license demanding a refund.
Spoil yourself on valentines night.
Buy yourself a toy you always wanted as a kid but your parents never bought for you.
Donate haikus to the blind, create a 5 minute comedy act and perform it for the terminally ill.
Go to jerusalem and build a small temple in honor of all the Gods that never had a temple there.
Host an open mic that only uses sign language
Send an anonymous bouquet of flowers on mother’s day to a mother who recently lost a child.
Attend a stranger's funeral and be a shoulder for someone to cry on.
Buy a 24 pack of water bottles, Go to your nearest home depot parking lot and handout water to day laborers.
Write down everything you ever disliked about yourself, and set the paper on fire. Then, whole heartedly, forgive yourself for it.
Instead of complaining about the things that upset you, complain about the excessive amount of blessings you have gotten over time.
Write poems from the perspective of others until you understand the similarity between all our common differences.
You are free to do as you please . . .
But whatever you do . . .
never let a poem tell you what to do.