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.
"The casket, laden with flowers disappeared as the curtain was slowly drawn.
If not before, now was the time for all those crying to mourn." The poet.
Immortality has always been an impossible dream.
The notion of living forever had lost its gleam.
When illness befell me and I wished for it to end,
Life led me to the soothing words of a friend.
Confusion overwhelmed me, I knew not where to turn.
Life led me to where I realised, I knew I could learn.
Despair and heartache let me see nothing but strife,
I was led to Christ my saviour who brightened my life.
Feelings of comfort and security and being held tight,
Brought love to my being and I knew all was right.
In the wild the young are held tenderly by clenched jaw,
Just one of the reasons a nurturing parent is for.
I have trod this earth for many a worthwhile cause,
With laughter and tears, in the safety of life's clenched jaws.
Its now time for the jaws to release my soul and open wide.
Not the end, this life let me go and I am at my Maker's side.
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 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 !
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.
If I can’t climb the mountain,
I will find a way around;
what matters is reaching the place
destiny has mapped before me.
If wrestling shadows is required,
I will fight them to succeed;
for in the book of life,
each page must turn with time,
its wisdom carefully absorbed
before the next is revealed.
As though life resents our existence,
it serves difficulties as daily bread.
To drink from the cup of victory,
forged in the furnace of success,
one must grow small as a camel
passing through the needle’s eye.
Success lies hidden in life’s belly;
one must pry open its clenched jaw,
wrest the sweetness it has swallowed,
before the songs of triumph are sung.
Though life’s teeth are igneous stone,
I will seize the molten magma,
shape it before it hardens,
and rise, crowned in blazing triumph.
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.
Our proximity came with my age
And I only saw your later chapters,
though I saw myself in you.
Not unlike myself with ambition,
Homely peers and shouting,
The weight you did accrue.
Your aims changed a while ago,
And I added them to my own,
I saw your smile tighten,
But I let my feelings stew.
Fancy chains of gold, white veiled capture,
And, yes, I hate your captor,
Sceptical of this new chapter,
and the baby cradle too.
As of now your hands have turned to hitting,
Smiles inclined to swearing,
Your son is only one now,
And our similarities are already true?
As I try to slumber now the stature cracks,
The bringer of tears strikes again,
And I struggle to identify who.
I’ve looked up for the longest time,
And I gaze into you now that I’ve grew.
The truth I’ve come to grips with now,
I don’t want to be you.
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
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
feeble flesh feigned
rusty reels' reign
hoity hankers bled
porous pruning led
furious feast fetched
blind blitzkrieg belched
gaunt gifts gored
punctured pills pored
nocturnal nature bored
taunted trees moaned
callous crest cloned
damping drooling drone
eerie ends etched
callous catastrophe clenched.
'20:04:06:20:38
Note: Of wanky war.
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?
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”.
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
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?
Related Poems