Rudy Francisco Poems (Contemporary Poetry Collection)
The Button Poetry artist Rudy Francisco, a household name online for his spoken word poem “Scars/ To The New Boyfriend,” author of his debut book, “Helium,” which includes some of his live spoken word poems and brand-new works has this to say. Read to find out.
He maintains he isn’t a love poet, yet “Helium” touches on a variety of forbidden subjects including racism, politics, the personal, heartbreak, and the occasional love poetry.
Rudy Francisco Poems
By use of humorous parallels and illuminating metaphors, Rudy uses “Helium” to reveal the challenges and victories in his own life. No matter their ethnicity, age, or sex, he genuinely has a gift with words that reaches out and touches people.
Strength was a poem that really stuck. Francisco describes a situation in which he mistook his fist for a flower and forgave someone before being asked to do so in just five words. Little details like that are what make his writings so poignant and accessible.
Here are two of Rudy Francisco’s notorious poems.
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Love Poem Medley by Rudy Francisco
I want you to bite my lip until I can no longer speak
And then suck my ex-girlfriend’s name out of my mouth just to make sure she never comes up in our conversations
I’m going to be honest, I’m not really a love poet
In fact, every time I try to write about love my hands cramp… just to show me how painful love can be
And sometimes my pencils break, just to prove to me that every now and then love takes a little more work than you planned
See I heard that love is blind so, I write all my poems in Braille
And my poems are never actually finished because true love is endless
I always believed that real love is kind of like a super model before she’s air brushed;
It’s pure and imperfect, just the way that God intended
See I’m going to be honest, I’m not a love poet
But if I was to wake up tomorrow morning and decide that I really wanted to write about love I swear that my first poem…
It would be about you
About how I loved you the same way that I learned how to ride a bike: Scared
But reckless with no training wheels or elbow pads so my scars can tell the story of how I fell for youYou see, I’m not really a love poet
But if I was I’d write about how I see your face in every cloud and your reflection in every window
You see I’ve written like a million poems hoping that somehow maybe someway you’ll jump out of the page and be closer to me
Because if you were here, right now
I would massage your back until your skin sings songs that your lips don’t even know the words to
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Until your heartbeat sounds like my last name and you smile like the Pacific Ocean
I want to drink the sunlight in your skin
If I was a love poet
I’d write about how you have the audacity to be beautiful
Even on days when everything around you is ugly
You see I’d write about your eyelashes and how they are like violin strings that play symphonies every time you blinkIf I was a love poet
I’d write about how I melt in front of you like an ice sculpture
Every time I hear the vibration in your voice so whenever I see your name on the caller ID my heart
It plays hopscotch inside of my chest
Yo it climbs onto my ribs like monkey bars and I feel like a child all over again
I know this sounds strange but every now and then I pray that God somehow turns you back in to one of my ribs…
Just so that I would never have to spend an entire day without youI swear, I’m not a love poet
But if I was to wake up tomorrow morning and decide that I really wanted to write about love
My first poem it would be about you
And after all of that she was like, so how do you feel about me?
And I said, put it like this:
I want to be your ex boyfriend’s stunt man. I want to do everything that he never had the courage to do like… trust you
I swear that when our lips touch I can taste the next sixty years of my life
And some days I want to swallow stacks of your pictures just so you can be a part of me for a little bit longer
If I could I would sample your smile and then I would let my heart beat
Do the bass line, we would create the greatest love song of all time
Whenever, we stand next to each other, love I was the only one made for you and you can be at last my Etta James
I’ll be oh child when you’re in pain or you could be candy coated drops of rain
Even though it never rains in Southern California
And together, we could be musicAnd when my friends ask if you’re my girlfriend
I’ll say no
She is my musician
And me… I’m her favorite song
My Honest Poem by Rudy Francisco
Among one of Rudy Francisco’s poems is his most viewed on-stage performance- “my honest poem. Here he displays the simplicity of honesty, yet the sophistication of life itself.
I was born on July 27th, I hear that makes me a Leo
I don’t really know what that means
I’m 5 foot 6… and a half. I weigh a hundred and forty-five pounds
I don’t know how to swim, and I’m a sucker for a girl with a nice smile
And clean sneakersI’m still learning how to whisper
I’m often loud in places where I should be quiet
I’m often quiet in places where I should be loud
I was born feet first and I’ve been backwards ever since
I like ginger ale… a lot.
I’ve been told that I give really bad hugs
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People say that it feels like I’m trying to escape
Sometimes it’s because I am, and secretly I get really nervous
Every time someone gets close enough to hear me breathe
I have this odd fascination with things like sand castles and ice sculptures
I assume it’s because I usually find myself dedicating time to things
That will only last a few moments
That’s also why I tend to fall in love with women
Who would never love me backI know it sounds crazy, but it’s actually much easier than it seems
And to be honest, I think it’s safer that way
See relationships, they often remind me that I’m not afraid of heights or falling
But I’m scared of what’s gonna happen
The moment that my body hits the ground
I’m clumsy. Yesterday, I tripped over my self-esteem
I landed on my pride and it shattered like an iPhone with a broken face
Now I can’t even tell who’s trying to give me a complimentI’ve never been in the military, but I have this Purple Heart
I got it from beating myself up over things I can’t fix
I know it sounds weird but sometimes,
I wonder what my bed sheets say about me when I’m not around
I wonder what the curtains would do if they found out
About all the things that I’ve done behind their backsI’ve got a hamper that’s overflowing with really, really loud mistakes
And a graveyard in my closet, I’m afraid that if I let you see my skeletons
You’ll grind my bones into powder and get high on my fault lines
Hi, my name is Rudy
I enjoy frozen yogurt, people watching
And laughing for absolutely no reason at all
But I don’t allow myself to cry as often as I need to
I have solar-powered confidence, I have a battery-operated smileMy hobbies include editing my life story, hiding behind metaphors
And trying to convince my shadow that I’m someone worth following
I don’t know much, but I do know this
I know that heaven is full of music
I know God listens to my heart beat on his iPod
It reminds him that we still got work to do.
We hope these two poems are enough to get you looking up his other poems. Rudy Francisco is a notable name among iconic contemporary spoken word artists. Looking for poetry that flows with the time? Rudy is your best bet. Do well to share this with your small poetry community.
