24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
We focused on
The tide coming in
Our hair being Douse
In rain
The house being a mess
Our ears ringing
In winter
The smell of plantains
Our hands holding books
In autumn
The sound of poetry
Our mouths shut
In readings
We focused
In readings
In autumn
In winter
In rain
To each other
Training for my first 5k
Running for the first time
Building stamina
Fighting the fear
Growing through the process
Becoming more confident
Gaining strength
Facing the challenges
Like many things in life
I was afraid
Of being embarrassed
Of failing
It is a personal thing
Working to achieve a goal
As part of my training
I adopted a mantra
Read in a book about running
I wrote the initials daily
On the inside of my wrist
It sticks with me still
EAMOF-Excuses Are Made of Fear
There is a place I know,
Where daffodils and roses bloom,
Tall trees and green grass also grow,
While bluebirds sing a lovely tune.
People love to sit on the rickety porch swing,
While watching little children hard at play,
Seeing the joy that kids will bring,
And, growing old together come what may.
The sun is shining ever so bright,
Reflecting the image off a blue pond,
Of a young girl with her Barbie kite,
Then, a grandfather looks proudly on.
From the kitchen come wonderful smells,
Of fried chicken and homemade rolls,
It is finger licking’ good, as you can tell,
Good for the body, mind, and soul.
In the den, a family sets up board games,
I see Monopoly, Trivial Prusuit, and Scrabble,
Family favorites always remain the same,
While buying property and watching words unravel.
This is a place I like to call home,
Within it’s walls remain a love that is steadfast,
It is where horses, cows, and prairie dogs roam,
However, the memories are made to last.
but i was soothing you in the endless supply of my Spanish blood,
give you the elixir to life, teach you how to swim in death valley, in the rivers all across,
the southern tip of my love.
I am against fragile, tanned flesh, resurrecting ghosts,
my ancestors paved the way and I’m still abusing their history.
i am impulsive, needy and short, my thighs are cornerstones to fragility,
my masculinity is lackluster and you’re such a pale god,
I hate the sun when it’s rooted in despair,
I lay there, trying to thread mindfulness into my skin,
and I grip your name like my last savior, some sort of holy thing,
but I am speaking in riddles, my brown skin,
mud under your feet, in the white-temple moon, the river draining out of my muse,
out of you,
ivory god, splendid in his foreign tongue,
conviction and licked his lips,
I was dirty and ruined.
I understood all of it, when you love all these women,
and I am but your friend in the eves of disaster,
a true lover, but no one ever slept together in divinity,
I could sell you love poems made with all my secrets,
and captivate every possessing demon from out of you.
We talk about the universe and the particles, frequencies to shift the eve of our dying breath,
become success when we refuse temptation, so many things to uncover and discover,
I must bleed again and speak in tongues,
in my brown skin I have evolved to be more than you thought,
this was thicker than water, the rush of my fingers to your throat,
here we go, against blood-stained sheets, from birthing in the unknown,
we have found safety.
I rummage these corridors, searching for a way to be just like you,
but my brown skin gets lost in translation though we speak the same language,
it is biology, building us in spreading lines and these depths have dissolved us.
come back and retract every acidic word,
I will speak to you because fortune favors the brave,
and I can save you, save you with this brown skin, undying skin, loving you, pale divine.
Standing tall and I’m reaching
Through the night and I’m reaching
In the rain and I’m reaching
Cold and Snow and I’m reaching
Kids call me ‘base’ and I’m reaching
Shade for all and I’m reaching
Sticks are cute small parts of me
Standing tall and bold I am a tree – and I’m always reaching
There once was a man named Hal,
He was friends with a guy named Sal,
Together they drank,
Some say they stank,
And neither one had a gal.
when people hear your name they think
of heroes and villains
of all the colours that you’re not
stubborn
you hold onto yourself so tightly that you can’t
let anyone in
krypton we can make you stronger
krypton you’re floating alone
krypton make room for another
krypton please drop your pride
One,
Waking up is hard.
Two,
Who needs to shower?
Three,
I’m not hungry.
Four,
This dress isn’t clean.
Five,
I just don’t care.
Six,
The sun is too bright.
Seven,
I’m so unmotivated.
Eight,
It’s already dark?
Nine,
It’s 9pm somewhere.
Ten,
My pacemaker stopped hours ago.
I didn’t know pain had a taste
Until it was in my mouth
Not sour like I thought it might be
Not bitter either
It was acrid
Stinging
Permeating everything I ate
I was eating pain
I was sipping pain
Swallowing it down
Only for it to come back up
That intense pain
That pulls at the patience
And the nerves
And I can’t swallow it down far enough
To keep it from coming back up again
Hushed canopy of stars,
watch the moon tread
the crest of the lake,
in muted gibbous glory;
havoc in a dead-beat heart.
Familiar panic attack.