My Poetry

this little hand in mine

Posted on by A. Long

In case I never get to tell you this

In case you forget who I was

In case we have a fight or stop speaking

Or you have questions

I have always loved you,

Not from the moment you were born or

When you threw up on my favorite shirt

But forever

From the inception of my existence

It was intrinsic that I would love you

Cradle

Hold you while you cried

Sing Marvin Gaye songs to put you back to sleep

To dream of how much we might look alike

And threaten your first date

To tell you that ma is the best person you will ever meet

Daddy always tries to help you navigate a world of bullshit and lies

In my short time I have failed to change it for you

So I have tried to change myself

I have been fallen been broken lied to lain with

Kicked down left lifted up cherished

I have seen beauty beautiful people ugly things history unfurl

Conspiracy and the truth get rinsed out in the wash

I have hurt people been hurt cried lied been found out abused

I like to think that I know some things

But the brave admit what they don’t know

Openly brazenly and without fear

Because there is no shame in not having all the answers

 

Learn to cook and laugh at yourself

Find someone who loves to be bored with you and go on an adventure

Know where you come from

Look to the moon for humility

Look in the mirror for strength

 

And just in case I am not there

When you leave for prom or

Learn how to ride a bike

In case I am not there for your next birthday or class trip

In case I am not there when you need me

 

Know that your little hand in mine altered my destiny

I love you more than

Peach cobbler collard greens and chinese chicken wings

Past all reason and cognizance

I’d hold on tight and die for you

Because that

Is just what big sisters do

 

For Nazir Samaira Rachel Rebecca Jazmin and any others after…

Spending The Morning Alone

Posted on by A. Long

watercolor

This morning someone spoke my name.

Sometimes I have trouble waking

I fall back to sleep

deep into dreaming

the weight of the voice shook me up, teeming

with a power

I have never known

I opened my eyes  to realize that

I

was alone

and so it goes

whenever I’m lost in a vortex that is the bed

a voice speaks inside my head

if I’m too heavy

it rolls me into the covers tightly

pushes the pillows over ever so slightly

& shoves the alarm right under my ear

just near enough to deafen

On occasion I’ll come face to face with a face

precariously perched on the wooden chair

from my dresser

eyes intent and steady

watching me breath, I guess

until I am startled into wakefulness

& scan the room

looking for the missing soul

that rippled my sleep

only to see once again

that I am alone

the sole person

in this home.

 

A Cemetary

Posted on by A. Long

burnt skulls. a vicious fight. dull swords. brave knights. pulled teeth. scorched screams. dull eyes. no relief. cries, of people long forgotten. bones broken

down

and locked in

to the soil. their souls rotten.

 

What Will The World Print When

Posted on by A. Long

What will the world print
when I’m a famous dead and gone poet?

She liked blistex over lipgloss
dark chocolate and Ritz crackers
Brooklyn and Italy
dark poetry, like the confinements of a room
the stage
graffiti,
really cold spaces with lots of warm blankets
butter and mayo
converses.

She died a legend
that thrived in this world
a simple student with an open mic…poetry
humble
and to be honest,
always a tad bit hungry

Every

Posted on by A. Long

Every Monday
my life falls into disarray
screaming depression binds me to the bed
Every Tuesday hurts a little less
I pick up the pieces and mull over the rest
Every Wednesday I fall back down
Every Thursday I pick myself up
On Fridays I am born again
On Saturdays I am happy
so happy that I am scared it won’t last
And then on Sundays
the fear manifests
I am alone and shaken by my own happiness
distressed I count the hours
attempt to clean this place
call a friend and when he doesn’t answer
desperately call again
I talk to God for direction
and forget to eat
Lie awake in the cold because I can’t afford the heat
I’m stuck in a stalemate with the wall
wondering how I could want so much
and not enough
Of all the things I thought I’d be
I never knew this could happen to me…

Thank God for the music and the mission for keeping me going

My Poetry, Short Poems

What Is Death

Aside | Posted on by A. Long

iol.co.za

iol.co.za

Death and calamity exist
to breach the unreachable walls built up around us.
like the crumbling of Lady Liberty’s twins
our arrogant towers would fall
leaving a hole devoid of petty prejudice
delivering us back to our original state
reminding us that we are only
human.

The Fire

Posted on by A. Long

passionate lunatics 

slaves to the cycles of the moon

dizzy as fire water

cold as snow

hot as adrenaline pumped thighs, escaping spanish bulls 

pulled together

like magnets

yanked apart just as easily

forever and never. they will always be.

jealous…insecure…drama kings and queens prancing across life’s stage

unstable nitroglycerin

mixture of pure joy.

The laughs and smiles

the sighs and fights

but it’s really all bottled in the way she cries

the sudden, salty, and sweet.

the only way to get the crazy out.

the only way to sustain without burning out.

The fire 

will help us keep warm

even feed you, but won’t 

let us live 

if we let it live       too long.