Best Clenched Poems
When untamed wind roughens fine wisp of day
and grating the bite of late twilight sky--
O woeful eyes quiver and turn away
from hours' piercing ordeals that darkly sigh ,
like fragile mirrors thrown into the air
my aloneness bleak as clenched shadow's jaw,
while ominous vapor darts from nowhere
to cast upon life wrecked by sharpened claw:
Yet above, tiny stars could not resist
their flicker of blinks, a luster divine
that I find comfort in dear heaven's mist
absorbing tender solace quite benign.
How beautiful a gentle eve when viewed,
Through life's unclenched jaw... now truly imbued.
Through life’s clenched jaw,
we struggle to survive.
We see our loved ones stumble;
expectations crumble.
Anxiety keeps grinding
and grinding
us down.
Money’s tight;
life’s jaw clenches tighter.
Health declines.
The jaws of death loom nearer.
Panic-stricken people
flee the only homes they’ve ever known -
refugees escaping war
or the clench and the stench
of oppression.
Through it all,
many make it through,
but oh the woe of those
living in the unrelenting grasp
of poverty
or of being chewed to bits
by abuse and fear.
Who gets to glide through a life
where slackened
is the jaw of life?
And who decides
if a clenched jaw will constantly
be others’ plight?
Only God alone can know;
it’s not ours to reason why.
Family and friends, good attitude,
hopefully faith and prayer
will help to make life’s clenched jaw
easier to pass through.
I firmly believe that in the end,
death’s relief for many
will be a welcomed friend.
When life’s jaw unclenches,
we can be released.
Then will understanding
flood our minds
and the light of God’s pure love
be new life’s sweet caress.
How many times have I been,
or perceived to have been,
the victim of cruelty or injustice,
which I tolerated,
as I felt it was necessary to survive
or, if not to survive,
to maintain a minimum standard of living -
as a child,
as a sick person,
as a subordinate in a corporation?
How did it make me feel?
Angry.
How did it work out when I expressed my anger?
Poorly.
Hence, much of my life was lived
through a clenched jaw.
Which doesn't seem pleasant.
Is there another way?
Philosophy?
Religion?
Forgiveness?
Acceptance?
Reassessing when I must compromise?
Learning a new way to communicate -
civil, yet uncompromising?
I wonder.
I wake into a tornado:
Lights suddenly blaze through my eyelids.
The air buzzes and hums;
The distant din of clamor
Still imperceptible through the haze
That fogs my mind.
A voice, and loud, gives a gruff command.
The iron in it still shakes me awake,
Even after 18 years.
The bus lurches forward, all eyes lowered
As I move down the cramped aisle.
I look Richie Davis right in his face,
But he won't meet my challenging gaze.
A wolf-grin spreads from ear-to-ear
Much like the feeling of hot-cocoa warming
From the inside out on a frigid day.
Like lambs, they cower.
Between the places where I go
To get lectured at, I spin through crowds
And move through the throngs like a king
Through his subject.
That is, until one tiny freshmen
Stumbles across my path.
Without thinking, he's off his feet.
Shock and fear written across his face
Like a line straight from a poem.
I drink up his reaction like
An alcoholic skeleton; no sip is ever enough.
Beyond this institution's walls
There's only one other home.
Within its walls echo angry shouts, and
The vision in my head crescendos.
The kid in my clenched hands wears my face:
I'm only doing what I know.
So why does the pain inside only grow
When they say all I am is mean?
crouched in the corner
her head is covered
face blood smothered
when the bruises fade
their replaced with another
she looks in the mirror
with makeup she covers
drops to her knees
hangs her head and she cries
each day that passes, another piece of her dies
he sees her crying and calls her weak
hits her hard, he's upped the tweak
she hears the screams of her 5 year old son
"daddy daddy stop! stop hitting mum"!
but he doesn't listen it only fuels his rage
so he hits her again like a dog in a cage
her eyes are swollen
her nose is broken
she prays to God to give her a token
a token of courage, for strength to walk away
life is a burden she now faces every day
fear is his partner, they now own her soul
he has stolen her spirit, her life he controls
clumps of her hair lay scattered on the floor
she cant breathe, she cant fight anymore
her broken bones they hurt
blood stains on her shirt
his taunts and nasty words scarred in her mind
how could love ever have been so blind?
once a strong woman now broken and numb
she now looks at the woman he has made her become
and so all the love she gave
slowly fades away
she's gotta say goodbye
before she dies inside
all the love she gave
now replaced with hate
her scars are torn apart
just like her broken heart
she looks at her son, sees the tears in his eyes
and comforts her boy, then together they cry
Growing up in purest innocence
Greeted as a friend
Groomed with a fine tooth comb
Grabbed unexpectedly
Groped involuntarily
Grouping parts of self
Gripping deeper fears
Grinding self image
Gritting teeth
Gryping of opportunity lost
Grifting gratification
Grappling with truth
Grieving childhood missed
Gripping reality loosely
Grousing silently
Graduating in faith
Grinning of small hopes
Granting mercy
Graced with love
Jaw Relaxes
9/17/17
A clenched fist rose in the air filled with chants and gun smoke
All across Africa we marched and our spirits never broke
The power of fingers clenched in a fist cracked walls of discrimination
Then oil unclenched the fingers and we started to point and make accusations
When the fingers dried, we clenched our fists again, clinched our teeth but turned on each other
The rubble of apartheid walls became missiles as brother rose against brother
We fractured our bones, our fingers became too weak to point at our shame
What will the fractured bones of clenched fist now proclaim?
Clenched Hands
UNCLE
Exhaustion has set in.
What is the problem?
Is winning not enough for you?
Please...
I can beg and I can plead
I give up!
Now...the faint smell of incense?
Now in my weakened state
you choose to help?
My hair falls from clenched hands.
I kneel at your feet.
Is kissing them not enough for you?
Was your goal my tears?
Need they streak my face?
Must everyone see?
Must that be done
before you lift and carry me
to our next destination
MY Father, my God?
See, faced with no one,
yet in my mind I see him everywhere.
The best thing for me;
do not name it,
stitch my mouth,
say nothing.
But silence is never nothing.
Silence is the loudest thing he gives me.
What seizes the eye at once
makes the heart beat between lines.
Utmost, inexplicable, perpetual stimulation.
Now the wind blows mournfully,
and I let it.
Naturally, flagrantly, palpably,
replaying each line,
bona fide, constantly, truthfully, carefully.
Beating through language,
an ache written sideways,
pain grammar cannot hold.
Devil-may-care.
On the edge of a single smile,
he walks through my thoughts.
Every gesture is an answer.
Every lack of gesture is an answer.
I build whole futures
out of unfinished sentences.
Between my wanting
and his unknowing,
through life's clenched jaw,
I cling to the unrequited knowledge
of reciprocity.
teeth grind silently
in jaw's prison for sorrows
anger pressed to bone-
forgiveness waits at the gate
suppressed until victory
clenched lips hide the cry
parry what loud eyes don't see
masking every wound-
rage silenced by the anger
etched in muscle, bone, and brow
knuckles white, jaws locked
displays the relentless fight
in hate's epitaph-
yet while clenched, a jaw can't shout
a clenched fist can't grab a sword
the choice lies within—
clench until the fire is spent
or loosen the hold
to free the mouth to declare
the path to revolution
The journey through life can be hard,
it is a real struggle at times;
leading to stress, anxiety and anger,
frustration in completing daily tasks.
Held in strong clenched jaws,
it causes me strain in my life;
like a prisoner in heavy chains,
with a strong grip hard to escape.
Is it because my expectations are so grand,
is it because I am weak ?
I feel a huge fire burning within me,
and I have a warriors heart;
yes, I can release myself from the jaws,
but it will take a lot of determination.
My jaw with be held strong,
confidence, I will feed daily;
Will get plenty of sleep at night,
I will eat healthy at all my meals.
And will lower my expectations in life,
will just be me, myself and I !
She loves to shake her right hand about,
Hiding her left in a fist,
Hiding her real self away in a clench,
While waving her false from her wrist,
You see, she wants us to think she’s the happiest girl,
Full of fun and a life with a kiss,
That she has the best things and does the most stuff,
That she is the happiest Miss,
But, clenched tight away, hidden in her left,
Is her reality she hides from us all,
The reality of herself not able to cope,
In her mind she feels boring and small,
So, I open her hand and look into her eyes and say,
“Your YOU is a perfect for me,
I love you for you, not the pretend in a dress,
I love when you’re honest and free”.
His plaintive cry pierced the air
pleading to travel somewhere
Sympathizers marched in a faraway square
their fists clenched in slogans
As he bled to death slowly
~ in the presence of no one
I have walked the hallways
where minutes gnash like teeth,
each second a pebble pressed
into the jaw of memory.
The air tastes of iron--
memory’s rust,
old prayers swallowed
before they ever touched the light
Yet still - I carry my candle
into the jaw’s dark cavern,
its flame a soft rebellion
against the grindstone silence.
Soft laughter rests in the cracks,
like seeds grabbed
into the frozen earth,
waiting for the frost to release them,
for spring to rise
from winter’s quiet.
I move onward,
not a hostage,
but marrow unbroken,
a hymn rising
through bone and enamel,
singing until the jaw
yields to the light.
The love for water turns into nightmares.
Walking on the yellow sand, then to appear
Seating at the bottom of the river's tears.
Recovering, floating upward, no one cares.
Breaking down emotional and mental well-being.
The aggression of grief, in a cycle, not seeing
The denial, anger, and depression are endless, fleeing.
Confused by the sight of obstructions coming
From different misconceptions of heartbeat directions.
Through Life’s Clenched Jaws, experiencing debt,
The sheltered or unsheltered homeless,
Death, and all the obstacles this world brings.
Feeling it give-way, seeing the emerald shoots returning.
To walk out in its warmth, reclaiming
The right to breathe with confidence and create anew.