The Poetry Marathon

And then I imagined that the deck of the ship was a dance floor that graced my feet

Orange skies with streaks of purple

Colors so deep I could feel the texture of their richness within my soul

The smell of the sea calling out to me

Sway, gyrate, twirl

Release your troubles to the sea

Be free and carefree

I closed my eyes and the melody captivated my entire being

The music washed over me

And I let loose, I let free

I danced on the deck of the ship

In my wild thoughts

On my road trip past the beach

Yellowed over the years

Edges worn from weathered storms

The smell of ancient years

It read,

1997

If you’ve found this,

Then the world still exists

And the plague of my time has not killed the human race

I give you my greetings

I give you my love

I hope you find the strength to keep living on

It was the year 2097 that I found this note

In a bottle

In a hole in the gground

In my backyard

Mounds of fresh tomatoes
Basins of crayfish
Waist beads of various colors 
Fifty naira a packet
Market women peddling their goods
Arms grabbing and waving me over
"Aunty come and buy this one"
The scent of goat meat wafts through the air
The butcher carving his meat
Flip flops slap against the back of my heel
As I weave between, kiosk after kiosk
The scorching sun on my back and neck
Moist palms from the heat
"Ada carry this bag"
I look at her with spite for not offering to take it from me 
Her retched braids with their seams undone
Finger across her forehead
And in one smooth motion
Wipes the sweat off her brows
With a small smile she says
"Let's go home"
And I agree with her
After all, tomorrow is another day (Last line from Gone with the wind, Margaret Mitchell)

Amidst the lake and the sea
Capturing the moment, enjoying the breeze
Soaking in the sunshine
The beauty of nature

Amidst the sea and the river
Restoring my balance, cleansing my fears
Resurrecting the waters
The beauty of nature

Amidst the river and the ocean
Always present, cascading memories
Engulfed by the waters
The beauty of sailing

The birds awoke me with their forlorn songs

On this forgotten piece of heaven on earth

My heart throbbed in sync with the sound of deer hoofs beating against the forest ground

Vibrating as it did, awakening as it would

Naked as I was, unclad before nature

I embraced the soil and the solace of loneliness

The excruciatingly dull ache in my chest

The feeling in my gut like a potato filled sac

Sleepless nights, tear filled eyes, blind rage

Hatred and love intertwined and unwound

Utter confusion. Despair

And when all these unfathomably uncontrollable emotions had had their course,

Time after time after night after night unto bleak, empty days that rolled by

The stark emptiness

Loneliness and longing

I just wanted it back

All of it

Every single detail of masked happiness and desire without truth

I hated my new reality and I blamed you

I blamed ME, I blamed humanity yet no aspect of human nature could explain…

I. Wanted. It. To. Make. Sense

Needed it to make sense. Someway. Anyway.

But it never would so,

I…I picked up the zillion shards of my fragile, barely beating heart; what was left of it

Threw them out the window, all but one

And as I watched them fall to the ground,

Some blown away by the wind, carried by the current of the ocean and into the dark unknown

I felt in my palm, the last beat of the last living shard

The ebbing away of its life

The death of a broken heart

The beginning of the end of always and forever