Poetry from 2012 (Part 2)

04/10/13

Here are eleven poems I wrote from July – December 2012. The themes here address negative relationships, failed relationships, failed dating, denial, emotional fantasies, politics, symbolic death, war, nostalgia and wishful thinking.

Anjuline

Was born in ‘73

No divine plan for thee

Never had a fighting chance

All that’s left will never last

Rose was the colour inside

That black, yet, blue thy eyes

Thou opened a book one day

Could not turn the page

Two thousand miles away

Walking upon the coast

Two thousand miles away

Life open like a road

No hope for thy plight

Life living, life of white

Hearing nothing unfold

The closing beyond the road

Two thousand miles away

Walking upon the coast

Two thousand miles away

Life open like a road

Can’t Come Here

“That queer boy can’t come here!”

The devil within him will try to break you in

The sheer sin on his skin is more than enough

He’ll drench you and drown you at once

“That queer boy can’t come here!”

The institution will help him

The institution will help him

That queer boy of rose street

A life without goodness, without pureness

The fire, he boils in the pits of our gut

We will, we must burn him at once

That queer boy of rose street

Pass him the labour of love

Let them burn in the fire

Let them burn in the fire

Let them burn in the fire

Let us burn him at once

Cream Dream

Ocean cream

Licking my ankles

Shallow wading on a Friday night

Wake the next morn

Floating

Motion dream

Licking my elbows

Wallow in the dusk’s dead light

Shake the snow globe

Floating

It pulls me deeper

Prodding with its bill

The nostrils opening

The heaven, the light

Did You Hear?

I drew a line in the sand.

Did you hear about England?

There’s the rain and the winter

of the wars deep in my memory.


I closed my eyes tonight.

Did you hear about America?

It’s a revolution!

He’s as white as he is black.

Humankind from a distance;

homicidal injustice at best.

But the race must be won!

How do I sleep on that?

I turned off the radio,

though I heard of Libya.

So, now I’m out of range.

I’ve no feelings at this stage.

Turned off the television.

My time is gaining on me.

If there are Gods above,

leave me be in the next life.

Dinner

When she came up for dinner,

we had words, and our tongues

were curling, twirling, swirling

up and down, all around.

In that light, she was thinner,

and lines ran deep in her face.

Bones were cracking, clacking, lacking

that old flame of our day.

With a broken wrist, I shook her away.

With a lively twist, she ran, ran away.

With a bitter wit, I swore her away.

With a mouthful, she spat me away.

Into the open air, I reflect.

Recall of time, I introspect.

These memories wear thin as her figure.

These memories of mine do not trigger...anything.

When she came up for dinner,

her eyes were sad as a sinner’s.

In that light, she was thinner.

Ten years, not one winner.

I’ve no care, no change to spare.

This new year’s without you, dear.

This new year, this new pair,

these old flairs, these old fears,

I’ve no care, no change to spare.

Not one tear, no weight to bear.

Lovelornless

When the wind comes

Let it dry up the love

Only once could I give you

Only once, my love

Now that it’s all done

Lover, let it be

This life is forgiving

This world is enough

In the river, we drift astray

All the currents pull me away

When I untie the rope between us

You sink; my past, my anchor

Though I break the surface

The fresh air reminds me

The sun will dry up the world

As you dried up mine

You will never surface

My love won’t see daylight

The sun will dry up the world

As you dried up mine

In the river, we drift astray

All the currents pull me away

When I untie the rope between us

You sink, my past, my anchor

My veins untangle from you

The blood can flow again

One day the riverbed

Will swallow you up

One day the riverbed

Will swallow you up

Lovely Bird

One morning with my lovely bird,

in her mouth I placed a stone.

I said, “swallow, swallow, swallow!”

‘Twas the burden of her tongue.

When lovely bird was not looking,

my hand pierced her hollow nest.

I made ribbons of her feathers

‘til her babies couldn’t hatch.

Below the canopy, she lay,

with no sweet songs left to sing.

Couldn’t spread her precious plumes,

her plight of flight was my delight.

Disappeared in the greenery,

the bird never did return.

With no clutch, no flock, no flight,

I said, “swallow, swallow, swallow!”

With no love, no life, no luck,

she did swallow, swallow, swallow.

With no life, no life, no life,

I said, “swallow, swallow, swallow!”

Thirty years and five months later,

there, lying on my doorstep,

head on the left, plumes to the right,

my lovely bird was back again.

Maria

Please, Maria.

Your Prince, he beckons you back.

Might you travel to his land

and love him in the night?

Your Prince; untie his hair and

unfurl your garment all the way,

then spread yourself like open light.

Let him love you.

Allow Him this fate.

Our dear Maria.

This old battle continues

as sky and wind do not break

the silence between Prince and you.

By the parchment of the King,

unfurl your skin and blood and

untie his hair...undo, undo.

North Carolina

In North Carolina

I met your eyes

That fur on the skin

Growing on us again

The sky’s rotation

Is the same everywhere

I open my eyes

While yours are in rest

Is it the same world?

Is love the same word?

In North Carolina

I found your eyes

That fur on the skin

Stuck to me, you grin

The sky’s rotation

Is the same everywhere

I open my eyes

I open my eyes

Is it the same world?

Is love the same word?

Is love the same?

On The Hour

“We remember the times

now far far far away.

Our memories

from long long long ago.”

I want some smoke in the living room

where the paintings are all stained.

It’s this necessary aging

we all must undergo.

On the hour he will enter.

I want Whiskey on a Wednesday,

some LSD on the hour.

It’s this necessary filling;

the gaps we must forget.

I’ll remove his glasses and mine.

I want to bite on a cigar

whereon lips have not remained.

It’s this necessary sadness

we will all remember.

All will lay atop my nose.

I want music in the kitchen,

and a lover to dance with me.

Allow the smoke to blind me,

let the floorboards give way.

I will stare in wonder.

I want friction from a beard,

to be tickled by the lip.

It’s this necessary routine

I adopted from lost time.

All of me on the hour.

Voyage

The life I had, the man I was...

I voyage through the time I’ve lost.

One black moon in the open sky;

no more light in this world of mine.

Those years ago, beneath the sun

our brother’s loved and lived as one.

The land was blessed and all was pure.

I search this realm, soon search no more.

The air twisted, twisted around me.

I was surrounded by His army.

Although my past did keep me newer,

I heard He was like the Führer.

The life I had, the man I was...

my world avenged at little cost.

The man I am, and by my knife,

will draw His mercy, draw from His life.