Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $9.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    That Which Gets in the Way
    That Which Gets in the Way
    That Which Gets in the Way
    Ebook128 pages39 minutes

    That Which Gets in the Way

    By A. M. Langston

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    That Which Gets in the Way is the second poetry collection from American writer A.M. Langston and his third literary release. These poems were born out of a period in which the author faced deep depression. It is a dark, no holds barred confessional that takes the reader along on a ride to rock bottom and back. There are four parts to this collection, each one a milestone in the emotional journey. Part one reflects a struggle between depression, motivation, and inspiration. Part two showcases the beginning of progress up out of the pits of Langston's soul. Parts three and four are full steam poetry and haikus.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherA. M. Langston
    Release dateOct 3, 2017
    ISBN9781393228189
    That Which Gets in the Way
    Author

    A. M. Langston

    A. M. Langston is a restless millennial searching for meaning inside the wires and waves that make up the technology surrounding us during our every waking minute. Born in Illinois in 1988 and raised across the United States, he has called New Mexico home since 2004. "Couch to Couch, Never Leaving the House", Langston's first poetry collection, was published on June 21st, 2017.

    Read more from A. M. Langston

    Related to That Which Gets in the Way

    Related ebooks

    Poetry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Bubble & trouble

      Dec 11, 2020

      Bubble & trouble
      3 min read

    • Article

      My Glass-jar Plan

      Feb 27, 2023

      Let’s face it, 2023 did not start off with a celebratory bang. Rumbling electrical appliances in a death knoll due to power surges, an inverter screaming in agony every night during load-shedding, and a burst geyser dumping streams of water in the ce

      4 min read

    • Article

      My Glass-jar Plan

      Feb 27, 2023

      Let’s face it, 2023 did not start off with a celebratory bang. Rumbling electrical appliances in a death knoll due to power surges, an inverter screaming in agony every night during load-shedding, and a burst geyser dumping streams of water in the ce

      4 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Nov 1, 2019

      It’s soothing when the newly dead are way older than I am. This guy was 95. His picture—middle-aged, archaic glasses—freezes him somewhere around 1970. But even when they are my age and live in my town and share so many of my habits and interests tha

      6 min read

    • Article

      Narrative Engine

      Jul 11, 2024

      So I played a game today that opened with a paragraph of prose roughly as long as the observable universe. When it started, I had a sense that it might be about to describe something – and by the end of it, I think it had, but quite what and why I co

      3 min read

    • Article

      Strange Season

      Jun 4, 2020

      Strange Season
      14 min read

    • Article

      Peyton Burgess

      Mar 9, 2021

      Sometimes PB to my students, Sack to my friends, and always Pete to my family, my name is Peter Burgundy and I worry that death has been my only inspiration to be a better person—that death has had a way of making life understandable. And oh whoa, ho

      30 min read

    • Article

      Wisdom, Chaos, Kindness, And Piglets

      Feb 7, 2022

      Wisdom, Chaos, Kindness, And Piglets
      3 min read

    • Article

      Lagavulin BAY

      May 10, 2023

      Lagavulin BAY
      6 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      May 1, 2019

      We found ourselves to be quite fondof the ad campaignundermining late-stage capitalism: how the sprightly old womankept bursting into private conversationsat the candlelit restaurant and shouting, You can’t eat nickels!!and then doing that little hip

      3 min read

    • Article

      What’s Something Unexpected That Brings You Joy?

      Aug 2, 2020

      In my household, where my husband Nick hasn’t cut his mane since well before lockdown (picture a lion, but man-sized), I’m between lengths, and The Nut, our 15-month-old, is in a fossicking phase (picture a squirrel, but toddler-sized), a stray hair

      2 min read

    • Article

      Time & Other Poems

      Sep 1, 2024

      Isn’t it annoying, how you can read allyou want about the past, but not go there?Collect whatever you want from back then,whenever, put it on a shelf. You can evendecide you like a time period, hit up eBayor Craigslist, and in no time you can havealm

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Substitution

      Jun 21, 2022

      A Substitution
      20 min read

    • Article

      Summer Beach Reads

      Jan 10, 2021

      Summer Beach Reads
      7 min read

    • Article

      “God Is A Bathtub !”

      Jul 15, 2021

      IT must be the full moon. It was all going along quite comfortably for, ooh, about nine seconds. I’d asked what the album will be like, like it tells me to in the manual. And Björk had replied, “all sorts of things”, just like pop stars are supposed

      9 min read

    • Article

      Woman About Town

      Jul 28, 2022

      Woman About Town
      5 min read

    • Article

      Coming Up For Air

      May 7, 2020

      Coming Up For Air
      4 min read

    • Article

      Silence: Oxygen For The Soul

      Nov 14, 2019

      Silence: Oxygen For The Soul
      3 min read

    • Article

      Announcing The winners Of Our FLASH CONTEST

      Feb 29, 2020

      I sever the first two fingers of my left hand on a Tuesday. They fall to the ground at my feet, causing a momentary confusion as I wonder what tree has dropped this odd fruit. Then I see the crescent scar left behind by a fish hook and know that thes

      8 min read

    • Article

      Swisher Sweets

      May 1, 2022

      Swisher Sweets
      17 min read

    • Article

      L’amour vrai

      Oct 27, 2022

      L’amour vrai
      5 min read

    • Article

      Rising Sign

      Feb 4, 2021

      Rising Sign
      10 min read

    • Article

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD

      Mar 22, 2023

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD
      7 min read

    • Article

      Paul Heiney

      Jul 28, 2023

      I was watching the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on the telly and felt such deep envy. I don’t mean for his wealth, status, global influence, even his short trousers. I wouldn’t want any of those. And then, just as I was thinking what a lucky bloke Su

      3 min read

    • Article

      You Talkin' To Me?

      Aug 17, 2023

      You Talkin' To Me?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Paul Heiney

      Jul 28, 2023

      I was watching the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on the telly and felt such deep envy. I don’t mean for his wealth, status, global influence, even his short trousers. I wouldn’t want any of those. And then, just as I was thinking what a lucky bloke Su

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for That Which Gets in the Way

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      That Which Gets in the Way - A. M. Langston

      Part One

      one.pm

      ––––––––

      who all walks with thee on foreign land,

      oh, holy one?

      none of us.

      our hands and heads ache

      we dare not leave our lives behind

      because we fear mortal men, unlike you.

      i trample not on road nor grass in europe.

      not with thee.

      two.pm

      ––––––––

      words play no part in aiding

      but they, the tallest ones, bind them

      and mount them on tower walls

      under the rifle i used.

      three.pm

      ––––––––

      once you get to a certain point down the tunnel

      there's a physical manifestation of your emotion

      the spirits knotted a rope around the back

      of my eyes

      and pull them through my spine

      the rope constantly gives and takes down

      the back of my neck

      for me

      the pain is missing expected landmarks

      how i'll never get to say goodbye

      as they do in fiction.

      there will be no madrid

      i think most of us don't get to say goodbye, though.

      four.pm

      ––––––––

      there is no getting it out

      it does not come out

      you can open small windows

      across the globe

      but nothing gets to leave

      the room.

      five.pm

      ––––––––

      i should have proposed

      deep in a glowing sea foam forest.

      someplace where sunlight shines

      through leaves

      but doesn't breach completely.

      there should have been running water nearby

      and flowers

      but i proposed in our loft near downtown

      albuquerque.

      a course was plotted and i deviated.

      it makes me weak to think of all

      the special things i've taken away from her

      because of my weak will.

      this is my doing

      but some part of her also yanks on the

      thick rope out the back of my skull.

      my tears are stolen by that rope

      trickle down it

      wet her hands

      they slip

      my soul drops off a cliff to its death

      in a vast brown garbage dump

      six.pm

      ––––––––

      what would be empty spaces between

      rotting trash

      icebergs in the gray slush

      I am being pulled deeper into

      ice bergs I smack and gash

      the crown of my head on

      between those horrific chunks

      in what should be empty space

      where i could draw breath 

      is instead a greasy, drying tar

      so thick it fills my mouth

      the pull of my lungs

      gasping for air in death

      can't pull that tar deeper down my throat.

      i chew it

      because what else is there to do

      as the goo

      in which i float

      expands my cheeks

      pins my tongue

      of course I vomit

      of course I bleed

      of course I don't escape

      seven.pm

      ––––––––

      i know you dont mean to lie

      but you lie

      i lie too, though i mean not to

      as well

      it is difficult to think your thoughts

      as well as speak them clearly

      difficult to not lie

      yes, it hurts

      the both of us

      when only one of us fails to express our Truth.

      but we're just young cats

      biting each one another until someone yelps.

      we'll never see reality

      and never learn how to speak Truth.

      eight.pm

      ––––––––

      drenched in tears, i choose to shoot myself

      but i must respect life

      not be hasty

      i want one more pipe

      one more coffee

      more poems

      to hug my wife

      (its been a while since i've had a good hug from her)

      so i'll

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1