I hear her running at break neck speed
over mountains and cliffs
praying the wind will catch her wings
spread eagle
as flying Africans
no constraints up here
no heavy palmed emotions to hold me
no responsibility to weigh me
no time to track me
no more voices in my inner ear
The wind’s so thick
that I can only hear the music
my breathe humming
syncing with my heartbeat
up here
all concepts and constructs are a myth
among cumulus clouds
I wait with patience
why worry of tomorrow
with wrinkles from the past
head pounding
heart racing
sweating happiness and pain
fear and joy
hollow rage
clump within, pits of writhing emotion
I stabbed my shoulder to flick the chip out
the remnants dissipate into the blood stream
what is normal
what is today
the present’s absence boils the curd to the surface
I wear the feelings on my skin to keep the secret
I scrub them off every morning
watch them clog the drain
time whips
demands attention in all directions
like erections in sleep
work fades, a monotonous track on repeat
deep introspection
leaves me wallowing inside
replaying lucid memories and poetry
while the world moves around me
I’m never awake
I never left the theater
the lights are all dimmed
there’s popcorn at my feet next to the sticky candy treats
I’ve been watching this movie for two decades
hoping the heroine will change
rearrange the free floating feelings flowing through
her veins, heroin
misplaced purpose
I scream, don’t just lay there at the screen
unball your fist
dismantle that smile
save yourself from the sins of your fathers
the faces speak
the rain pours
i climbed in back and imagine i know where i am going
but acknowledge knowing is arbitrary
i am not driving
Don’t fret the day misery
knocked at your door
you knew he’d come
take off his shoes
break all your rules
put a squeeze on your toothpaste tube
dirty up the tub
use all the ice cubes
He hadn’t lain in your lap
to tell you he’d stay
If he reaches the door, leaving
he comes right back immediately, saying
i left my keys
can you wash these
more time please
to gather his things
But remember this
you are king of all you survey
if misery has overstayed a welcome
show him the way
because only you have the key
If we chained our hearts to one another
the way overseers roped slaves
would we love or run
the stench wafts up
something indistinguishable
against your will
you taste the air
trying to identify the smell
what is that
putrid garbage onions
slowly you sniff sniff snuff
until a big whiff chokes you up
like the burning of bleach
gasping for a sterile breath
The view swallows me whole
from down here
it’s cold
i look up
into the light
outlining my hands with darkness
as i reach
past my station
and my level
and my class
and my knowing
into tomorrow
pushing a lil further
the sticky bits of yesterday’s dreams
clung to my skin
broken stems of possibilities
scrape and bleed
past more dusty realities
ineffable
straining my arms until they were sore…
further still
To the us we
never needed to be
To the ends
and tentative beginnings
To the leavings
and returns
To everyday in between the then and now
reality is slippery
sand in my hands
eluding
The real recedes every morning
until
I’m not sure what I live in
The Poetry Corner 