I found today
I found a start
Along the way
I found my heart
I felt the pace
I felt the beat
I saw her face
I felt the heat
I fumbled nouns
I fumbled verbs
I mispronounced
I slurred my words
I felt her hand
Caress my face
I understand
I found my place
A lady at a coffee shop was sobbing.
Another lady, a Good Samaritan,
said gently: May I be of help, madam?”
“Not really,” she said, “it’s really nothing.
My husband...an accident...this morning,
fatal, and finally.” “Oh, I am so sorry,”
said the lady offering her sympathy
hoping she might lessen the lady’s grief.
“Oh please, don’t be. My tears are a relief.
In fact, I’m overjoyed. For after years
of repeated failures and frustrated tears
I finally got the freakin’ car brakes to fail
as he must have pumped the breaks to no avail!
And I can only imagine his despair
not able to stop somewhere for repair.
And can’t you just picture his desperation,
his face awash in horror and perspiration;
giving up any hope (more so prayer) –
the other accident filling his underwear!
hello my pretty
the sun is out to greet me
spirits now high and cheery
the sky's no longer dreary
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Real education
starts
when the university
fades
in your rearview mirror
Its nihilistic
narrative
disappearing
in the mist
Umbilically
the ties
are cut
as light
comes rushing in
The wax of
dead
banal professors
— melting in the past
(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)
On this faithful day
Sudden gunshots everywhere
People running scattered
It's a dispute in my city
Gunshots everyday
So many innocent lives were taken unlawfully
People dies everyday just like mayflies.
Houses were burnt down
Leaving many homeless
Endangering so many lives
Agony everywhere
But the killing continues, no seizing of fire
Participants giving scores within themselves
Scores of numbers of the people they've killed.
Circle keeps repeating
Everyone avenging, death of their lost ones
It was a blood bath, until there was a victor
Prominent men in the city
Involved the government and more
Just like karma always visits, educating and repaying
Peace at last, amidst grief and vengeance
Welcome to the coolest city in the world.
At Last My Heart Sings
'Ere the sun sinks
And thy love falls endless
May this moment pause in beauty
To ponder thy kisses
My scarlet rose of love
Betake my spirit truly
As twilight falls gently
At last my heart sings
At last my heart sings
I feel my soul leaving my body free from pain free from the unhappiness at last
I sore through the air laughing no more crying over the sorrows of the past
Touching the stars as I see my tormented life fading away
Screaming at the ghost of my madness to be gone forever and a memory you will stay
My mind is clear and I can finally begin to live
Time is a great healer and in time I will forgive
Please do not weep for me be happy that I am gone
You see that I am free at last from the sadness I knew for so long.
The demon bound
through the years
grew wise,
found it a ceremonial thread.
He tore it
lept with hysterical joy,
the numbing bondage
no longer confined him.
He danced in newfound glee
yet wondered,
"What a fool, I have been all along,
to let this thread bind me.
Free at last,
with wisedom gained
a changed life began -
a wiser one.
'Ere the sun sinks
And thy love falls endless
May this moment pause in beauty
To ponder thy kisses
My scarlet rose of love
Betake my spirit truly
As twilight falls gently
At last my heart sings
Sanity is in fact the default setting
When dust settles
And dawn rises on a new day
Sober minds and eyes
Waking to see what needs being done
The hard and often dirty work of life
And not the wishful wistful dreams
Of hope and change
(11/7/24)
Jubilation at last
Not tribulation
After conclusion.
Joyfully
Liberated
From all limitations.
Gratitude
Father God Almighty
Guidiance
Provision and protection.
Mother God divinity
Mother of fertility
Life giver right from the womb
Restore and rejuvenate.
Christ Light
Empowerment
Grace to flourish
Favor in all dealings.
Fading breath, so slow,
Winter's chill in hollow eyes—
Could you stare at last?
Ashore at last
The night in the hallway paled into a yellowish screen
showing a black movie, ca 1963
A time machine of memories sent him back to the years
to meet people long since gone.
A family at the dinner table of people he knew too well
the shadow of his 125-year-old father was not there
nectar drinking Colibri exotic as Christmas present never received, the one in the toy shop, a red firetruck with wooden wheels
And he, the son of the oldest man in the world, had gone to sea, and when he returned, nothing was as remembered, differently by the people around the table
an ocean of missed years, a distance that was unbridgeable whenever he came home, a stranger silent
augmenting the gap filled with politeness.
They had known and seen him grow to adulthood, but his character remained a mystery, sitting in the living. room
somehow, they were related to him
they knew he would leave soon.
A nurse gently touched his shoulder,
you are awake?
Yes, my dear, I'm home from the sea.
Just a little something
A heartfelt thought or two
A bouquet in the morning
Because I dreamt of you
I dreamt of fields of lilacs
I heard you call my name
I didn't see you anywhere
But towards your voice I came
Then opened up a clearing
I saw you standing there
Perfume emanating
From flowers in your hair
You smiled when you saw me
Your arms were opened wide
They beckoned me come towards them
So I could hide inside
I said, "This can't be happening,
I thought your love was gone"
You told me I was silly,
I couldn't be more wrong
But that it didn't matter,
The waiting was now past
To come and kiss your Bluebird,
So we could love at last
If you could see
beyond the skin,
to all my trauma,
buried deep within,
you'd be in awe;
I still manage to grin.
I struggle with sleep;
some days I can't eat,
left feeling empty,
dead on my feet,
yet my aching heart,
still continues to beat.
Some wounds cut deep;
few scars you can see;
most of it I keep,
bottled up in me,
awaiting the day
I'm finally free.
It all takes time;
won't get there fast.
I can't wait to let go,
forgive and forget the past.
Give my bruised soul a break;
finally get peace at last.
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