RH
A note from Dr. Hendrix
This poem captures a contradiction I have lived with for years — an introvert who writes alone all day, housed inside an extrovert’s body that comes roaring to life the moment I am in public. I wrote it because I suspect a lot of us are quietly two people like this, and it helped to finally name both of mine.
— Dr. Roger Hendrix · We share these stories so you can know the family behind GreenTeaHP.
Locked up in my room
writing all day long,
answering to no one
but the thoughts of my soul,
once in awhile I go to public
events and it’s like the blowing
off a water main, my interaction
with people is quick, lively, open,
impulsive, unrestrained . . . ,
I live the life of an introvert in an
extrovert’s body, in public there’s
still a tinge of show,
I laugh, I love to joke and kid and let
loose with whatever comes out; I love
talking to women and joking with them,
asking them if they remember me from
high school, they try hard, but say they
can’t, then we laugh knowing I’m twenty
years beyond that,
I am capable of saying what’s on my mind, and
usually do, I try to see the grey in the sky, but
find myself looking above to a bluer sky, I’ve had
shit thrown my way, a lot of it, but so have you, and
we’ve made it through, so let’s pour a drink and throw
back, and sing a tune or two,
as the night night wears on and the party thins out, I like
sitting at the table with some guys and discussing what’s going
on in the world, why is Russia in Syria, why is congress bogged down,
I always hope to produce a thought that’s unique, because I hate repeating
what the news has said that day,
when thoughts run low, we conclude the world is in a mess,
let’s be honest, the world has always been in a big fat mess, only
now it’s in a bigger mess because we can see it all right now; yes,we
see the mess, I like the messiness, it takes a lot of thought and table talk to
figure it all out, and at those parties I’m ready to do just that, these days I’m the
last one out.