I sense here some things sinister—a scent
of sulphur, sulking in a sultry pit;
a serpent’s hiss, expressed from space unlit;
a warm spell spilling from some seething vent;
I find now some things filthy—foul ferment
foaming, frothing; a gaseous, gurgling slit
discharging fetid, festering, sour spit;
malignant mold in cold, cracking cement;
So languid, loath, obtuse I trepidate
on into the black bowels of my home.
Gagging back a nausea’s tepid bubble,
shivering a shudder that won’t abate,
discover I a gory catacomb.—
Woah… I see well now how bad my trouble!
Kensington
Children of frustration
when dreams rose from the heap
the darkest of locations
tell white lies as they speak
open to persuasion
when abilities are weak
waves of degradation
disturbs all those asleep
awake the dispensation
to turn the other cheek
the house that they were raised in
and company they keep
a blur of segregation
when summers burn with heat
sit back for meditation
and sow all that is reaped
peer deep into what’s stationed
the lost or stolen sheep
a core that rocks a nation
only on occasion weeps
passed down from generations
too scared to take a peak
the truth is out there somewhere
you can find it in the street.
If humans make smarter phones, we are Slaves to whom?
Playtime in the bone-pit.
Sanctified ritual amalgamates
sawdust savagery with infantile hunger
and births a blank recognition
within the eyes of the disbelieving.
What is it?
Praise be to the Geek.
Empty, gone and automated he devours
his daily bread of chickens and rodents with
a dry heroin mouth that grinds and chews
towards infinite sideshow pay days.
Strange but true!
Mister, he was made for it.
Humiliation sets in the veins like road tar,
inducing another bite of feathered neck
and flapping wing as his eyes fix on a
deceased, interior landscape that was once him.
All Alive!
The saint reflected.
Beyond self, he is indestructible.
Through tooth and stomach, he has
relinquished the facades of love and hate and
in his mouth they see themselves.
And they’ll always pay to watch him eat.
homeless man on the edge of the park
devours his gifted pizza
crumbs stick to his dirt streaked face like layers
of public disdain
people about regard him a walking virus
homeless man scents the air with squalor
his torn clothes proclaim the cheapness of rags
an untidy emptiness
a life throttled by dysfunction
as dark as a closed coffin
What is the measure of degradation?
What happens when direction goes missing?
this man, stooped, ungainly like tall weeds,
pinches bits of pizza crust thrown to birds
that gather about his wounded wildness
a salvage gesture to feed the birds
a clarity to nourish what's unprotected
to stow away grief
to worry about his next meal
implanted,
like a field under seeded
Poem Composed October 7, 2021
Contest: This or That Volume 7
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
She loved a man who, in their early days,
romanced her and was quick with lofty praise.
Due to his love, life bore a rosy hue.
Does this sound too near-perfect to be true?
Was it a dream? Soon Paradise was lost.
His heart grew cold, and hers would pay the cost.
Her efforts drowned in his indifference;
each day became progressively more tense.
He used degrading words that broke her heart
and spirit. Once he’d torn her world apart,
he left, concluding her long stint in hell.
Will she recover? Only time will tell.
October 5, 2021
Contest: This or That, vol 7--Degradation Placed 4th
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
As a lovely lotus, holding her head high, dooms to fade…
So is the fate of which damn degradation does invade!
When the angel of democracy murdered and muted,
Could politics provide people protection well suited?
When disruption of home and strife for living grow thriving,
Doesn't, like corroding steel, society go riving?
When caste, color, creed, and sects, like Rock walls, true growth obstruct,
Could we, midst so solid strife, succeed culture to construct?
Aren't riches, fading flowers, if fail to face poverty?
Could when hunger sky-scrapes, humans dream of joys plenty?
Who can save religions from fermenting fatality,
When, they shift from soul-strengthening spirituality?
When the air, water, soil, hills, vales... get wholly polluted,
Could the environment escape getting foully afflicted?
When inner harmony, easily, by changes challenged,
Could capture of pride by shame be so easily balanced?
Every sphere needs to move in so sequential symphony,
If not, could all live in life-casting cosmic harmony?
03 October 2021
This or That, Vol 7 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Edward Ibeh
DEGRADATION
Degradation in life or character
can never be allowed,
but is to be followed
uplift in each step: That’s the prime factor.
Progress in human civilization
to continue onward
never to push backward.
That is the perfect realization.
On journey, work hard with full devotion.
Must have self- confidence.
Depend on competence
to avoid any defamation.
Evolution in Nature to certify
always for betterment.
Process not to ferment
but on ceaseless trial to rectify.
Upgrade own life on dedication.
Have faith on basic Morals:
Those are Universal.
You must elevate next Generation.
09/30/21
Title chosen 'Degradation'
Fourth Place
'This or That Vol 7.
Contest by Edward Ibeh
Life revolts against
the fundamental law of Nature
for all things to inevitably degrade
to maximum disorder, entropy
with minimum free energy.
Life builds structure and order
against the trend
and needs to capture
and burn energy continually
to maintain its form and existence
against the ravages
of entropy and decay.
To survive living things must
conserve themselves,
transmit their seed
to new generations
and develop more successful
forms in a continuum.
Once the chain of transmission
is broken, the life form
degrades to dust,
and ceases to exist,
a dangling, fleeting species gone forever.
Life is an enigma, a peculiar chemistry,
a rebel against the laws of nature
fighting for the survival of its disparity
to avoid its inevitable degradation,
for now.
In the beginning was a great paradise
perfectly created* by God for mankind
wondrous gift to tend with grace He does suffice.
Paradise indeed, yet now badly maligned
as inhabitants caused her to be oppressed
hurt by their negligence and folly entwined.
With technology soaring to progress’ crest
men’s exploits afflicted so much Mother Earth
making her grieve in pain, not anymore blest.
Oh, sighing in disgust at arrogance-mirth
Mother Nature with stern warning never fails
tolerating not abuse turning to dearth.
Let’s heed to our planet’s degradation ails
Lest we despair, yet too late, with regret wails.
*Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
September 16, 2021
3rd place, "This or That, Vol 7" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Edward Ibeh; judged on 10/9/2021.
Try to imagine being owned;
purchased and sold as property.
Ravaged by dogs for amusement;
and denied all your human rights.
Before banning racial protests,
try to imagine being owned.
And the added degradation
of rape and appalling beatings.
It's hard to forgive slavery
when you believe you're still enslaved.
Try to imagine being owned;
and your children sold at auction.
Black-Lives-Matter marchers tend to
be in your face and demanding.
But before you admonish them;
try to imagine being owned.
Travelling forlorn in the desert of desolate life
I wander dazed chasing your mystique mirage,
enticed, I am seduced by your shifting delusion,
my broken heart is strewn as debris on your trail.
I don’t know where I am meant to belong,
but try to find the oasis of your luring love,
I end up turning to dry dust in the wasteland
and blow away to obscurity in the desert storm.
From the defoiated tree of desiccated yearning,
I am now dislodged meandering as a crumpled leaf,
rustle with the tormenting tune of melancholic music,
on its journey of despair beyond the horizon of oblivion.
The scorching sun burns the façade of desire,
as I drift discarded across the dunes of denial
with the sliding sands of time designing myriad illusion,
in the mirage flashing in your eyes I see my degradation.
___________________
September 13, 2021
For A Brian Strand Vers Libre Contest
Degradation of God essence
Desires mirroring fear
Stifling innate heart joy vibrance
Lending ego an ear
We’re love and light divine
Yet choose to misalign
With delusion entwine
Soul contraction
Degradation
10-September-2021
Quietus
(First stanza is a quatrain with 8-6-8-6 syllable count in end rhyme abab +
Followed by 6-6-6 syllable count tercet, end rhyme ccc +
Concluded by an equal syllable count rhyming couplet using refrain (any length as of poet’s choice) from first line, as the last line of the poem
The refrain is also the poem title
This or That, Vol 7 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
female collaborator,
passionate romantic lover,
despicable and unforgivable traitor
or cringing victim of horrendous war-rape
they know not.
shave her head
in a grotesque ceremony
of humiliation
they do
nevertheless.
such are the ways of the human,
despicable morally
in group
as she is.
He sat on a wooden chair
In front of him was a wooden table
On it was placed some paper
a bottle of packaged drinking water
Some disposable glasses
He had invited people attend his lecture on degradation of environment
So many people talking about it
No one doing anything...
And I am not ashamed to admit
I am one of them.
Worst part is I am criticising him.
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