by onyekachukwu
02.25.24
beat the block
back in my bag
and unsure why
i’d fallen off
and did not try
to beat the block
that’s been in my way
even whispers
i could not say
could not put
my pen to page
like a bird
caught in a cage
with the wisdom
of a sage
suppressing message
deflecting gaze
of the people
awaiting raised
voice of reason
raucous rage
written to commemorate
the war of words
fought on this date
02.23.24
beware the flash
is there a look, a smell, a taste
or does it flash across the face?
downcast, the mask that grins and lies
to self when none named Else lays eyes
upon this cruelly cracked up vase
blown of glass
that hardens, breaks
bread and fish, a basket case
with closed fist pass
collection plate
connections often fictive, fake
two ships at night
across the lake
fraught with freight and shuffling gait
unmoored is give without its take
02.24.24
but i digress
in the same breath
as the life i see next
i question this tension
i’ve yet to inspect
connotations complex
on the quest to accept
missing piece of the puzzle,
untold as of yet
that this fit would perplex
those for whom it’s been said
final judgment they make:
“welcome all these, except”
for this abstract aspect
(taken within context)
no respecter of persons
who care to connect
in its cause, an effect
some consider suspect
and to these i reply
wondering why they object
and now lest i digress,
ask me what i expect
to affect the perspective
on concave-convex
02.25.24
feeling(s) deleterious
i think i’m, maybe, curious
about what lies beyond
unsure whether it’s spurious
and just a friendly bond
outsiders may be furious
of what it is i find
to them somehow injurious
how i make up my mind
my thread neat and luxurious
for comfort and control
nothing should be deterring us
from choosing to be bold
03.02.24
hermit / hidden gems
without the armor,
who are you?
and what is it you’d
have me do?
to demonstrate it,
show and prove,
my sole allegiance
unto you;
so i relinquish
all control
instead surrender,
bare, my soul
up to whom
i trust to see
these hidden gems in-
side of me
02.25.24
open up
how many who’ve, in truth, been touched
remain to testify of such
a reckless, hapless, careless trust
between them and another?
how often has it been enough
to not let known, aside, be brushed?
instead, unsaid, in place of crushed
(no need to then recover)
as pressured pillow loses plush,
a teddy bear may spill its stuff
and leave behind a trail of what
should have been blocked by buffer
03.02.24
alternator
could there have been
something there
at the time just
unaware
of where the road would
turn to next
time will tell if
it was meant
two to tango
one’s a bore
what if i had
asked for more
would it start up
something new
(or) would i be left
missing you
03.03.24
breadbasket
there that testy
recluse goes
blown by pesky
wind, which shows
one cannot live by
loaf alone
when begging bread, you
won’t get stone
and water never
past you flows;
if meant for you, you’ll
surely know.
what’s left to do, but
fly with flow?
fact or fiction,
friend or foe?
no matter which one,
few follow
to where my place of
refuge goes
03.03.24
blowing smoke
do you want to stay this way?
should i say my goodbyes?
do you care about the pain
you’re causing simply by
returning to the same old things,
refusing to comply
(because of stuff you’ve stumbled on,
that’s likely crock of lies)
am i part of the circus?
(how you love to toe the line)
you live along the precipice
between living and dying
chalk it up
left up to you,
you’ll soon expire.
“Gone is our
Beloved High-Flyer”
“Lost to Balance Beam,
High Wire”.
left up to you,
this life will end
in tragedy you
could prevent
but opted, rather,
to befriend.
left up to you,
your own demise
will leave us looking
unsurprised —
no weeping wails
or ugly cries.
it comes down to
how much you care
about the face
from mirror stares
at you with eyes
all too aware.
it’s up to you;
you will decide
the day on which
the paint will dry,
completing canvas
of your life.
kill switch
flip the switch
to power down
and make me blind
to what confounds
the eyes with brightly
deafening sound
and sets its sights on
looking loud
enough to shift
one’s focus left
of centerfold,
foretold:
“BEREFT”
eternal sunshine
dead and gone are the days
of concerts and plays,
of ingenious inventions
and clearing our plates
beginning to fray
are the parts of your brain
that remember the good times
before skies went gray
and incoming what may
be the last time we say
any words to each other
before you slip away
though i try to have faith
and to hope and to pray,
innermost expectation:
you won’t be okay
in how many ways
can this hurt be appraised?
a feeling of loss
of things no more the same
03.13.24
grins and lies
bloody hell
bucket in well
my knees are shot
from praying tell
from wringing hands
and ringing bell —
or rather knell —
instead of self,
leaving a shell
kneeling, hoping, wishing well
“how are you?”
fine, i’m doing well
(while under-eyelids
start to swell).
turn that frown —
i wear it well —
upside down
don’t to yield to yell
instead aspire
to quash and quell
to quiet quotes,
in parallel,
that say too much
that doesn’t sell
about the folks
you bade farewell
03.24.24
percyjones
guess who’s gone
back to the place
where darkest demons
must be faced
the wild eyes
i saw today
were chilling, though
a hellish gaze
guess who’s lying
to my face,
spit-splattered portrait
of scattered brain
stalking, staring,
stating case
making bold
fantastic claims
guess who needs
amazing grace
needs saving from
an awful place
guess who’s gone
back to the grave
to visit with
the prior age
flying close to
sun seems brave
‘til circles form
around the drain