ashes drift through streets
foundations crack into dust
false tongues guide the crowd
we watch as the pillars fall
we're silent heirs to ruin
shouts of protest fade
pleas for change lost in the void
swallowed by neglect
travesties parade as law
complacency rains on guilt
even those prepared
trained to weather storms and fire
find their tools undone
in a tide that won't recede
against headlong climate change
cry for children's sake
their innocence locked in halls
their hope dims and fades
as our shadows fall on them
darkening their fragile plight
worsening within
erosion of soul and will
the mirror grows dim
our humanity watches
complacent letting self fade
where have voices gone
we long for them in passing
we ask but can't sing
we pick flowers to fill graves
we never learn time's passing
where have our blooms gone
onto graves we keep digging—
questions circle back
who is there to sow not weep
who will plant flowers in spring
Sunbreaks pierce the clouds of gray,
Genuine happiness finds its way,
After shadows stretched like endless night,
Light spills in, and my heart takes flight.
For so long, joy was a distant hum,
Lost in sorrow's weight, in darkness numb,
But now a warmth begins to seep,
Through cracks in walls where pain did creep.
Smiles feel foreign, yet welcoming like they belong,
Like muscles stretching, or remembering the words to your favorite song,
In this reprieve from shadows' hold,
I breathe in hope, and let my soul unfold.
For the first time in cycles of pain,
Genuine joy arrives like spring's sweet rain,
bringing life to what once was dead.
Like shedding old brittle skin, the light brings warmth to a cold heart thawing the ice that was once within,
In this quiet space where light does play,
I find myself laughing and for a brief moment forgetting my dismay,
Happiness genuine, like a friend who's come out to play ,
that light that chases that darkness inside of me away.
And although the darkness will most likely return , let's worry about that a different day.
Should you ever feel you miss me I'm just a text away
And you don't have to wait until a cold and rainy day
There may be times of longing, I know the feeling well
And if those times of longing come just know that
I can tell
The reason why I'd know so is because I'm longing too
For I could live a thousand years and I'd still long for you
It’s been a while since
we met so don’t wince
if I hold you close,
in love’s overdose.
Freeze the flow of time,
that one with love’s chime,
as our hearts entwine,
we both feel divine.
Caught in a spotlight from a star
Long time ago extinguished
Isn’t it good to see so far
A mirrored image finished
This view relates to time I guess
If one looks from the star side
A planet Earth must be a mess
That long ago has died
Time works like turning of the key
It opens lots of spaces
I borrowed little time for me
To let me see through faces
One day a Faustian bargain
We’re forced to make, before we go
Each ounce of dust looks quite the same
Is this important thing to know?
I felt strange staring at this family cemetery
was I supposed to be here?
I tried to call my sister back, but she is eight.
She was skipping and singing.
What do you think? She asked, proudly.
We had gone further than ever before.
I was not sure we were still on grandpa’s farm.
“Come see!” she insisted.
It was an old headstone
The lettering was almost washed away by time
I could barely see the year,
I gasped when I saw the name
This had been the name of my invisible friend.
She had played with me for years
before my mother told me she was make-believe
Now I knew that she was not.
I stared at the faded lettering
Was she an ancestor? Who would know?
I heard her voice whisper in my ear.
“It has been a long time!”
I ran screaming from the place
You’re my only thought,
As I wake up or fall asleep
I think of your hair, you hands , your eyes and how they are so deep
The first time I saw you
Love did beseech
If you were the prettiest flower, or the best quote I could ever speak
So let me love you
Like a Shakespearean Sonnet
Let Cupid take notes
As I will love you
I’d choke Aphrodite’s throat
Let me hold your hand
Let’s make the Gods jealous
Let Endymion and The Moon curse because they aren’t us
Let’s run away to a distant land
Where Apollo and Icarus hold hands
Let’s devour each other as Clytie sings her songs
If I can’t be yours
I shall stay forever forlorn
But I flinched so far whenever you accidently touched me that I hurted my head at the window,
But I always took a seat at the second chair to be 2 meters from you away,
But I ignored when I saw your things were lost and knew someone will definetly remind you,
But I didn't like how you talked with people at all which made me tell you: ,,pull yourself together'' ehat made you hate me,
But I hot your foot, I would've said sorry to others, but to you I just was even annoyed from you that you wasted that two seconds to look at me.
But I felt disgusted when you looked at me so I looked somewhere else,
But I pushed myself away from you when you sat next to me.
Never something will bring us to normalicy again.
Just let things be how they are now.
I will not react differently ever.
You are a long time ago
Something so distant
A stranger
What it would be like to see you now
It used to light up my face
Before it started to make my eyes watery
It's ironic
We met to fall apart
And that was Gods saving grace
I would never have been free from you otherwise
It wasn't bad at all
Now I miss you vaguely
The never ending talks
The filling company
The daring presence
Being part of your world
But there is nothing there anymore
And strangely there is no emptiness
But the world feels like an enormous vacuum
And I am so tired of breathing
I can not believe
that you thought you'd break me
Dear me what a fool
you lost the best you'll ever have you see
You'll realise this one day
when your sat all alone
Looking through our old texts
and our pictures on your phone
I wish I noticed sooner
what a narcissist you are
Before I let you leave
this precious heart of mine with a scar
I'm over you now
not one bit sorry your gone
Living my best life
restoring my confidence and moving on
When yins ye lou are taken awa ,
forever gang intae eternity,
ne,er will ye see them agin,
as eternity is far frae hame.
aye maybes yell see them float by,
in a clear day o sky,
ye can talk tae them when ist yer wont,
but ne,er will ye gain a reply or song,
the kirk it says yell get tae heaven,
where ere yon maybe hidden in cloods,
beyond yer sicht an hid frae hubble ,
an its freends o similar clout.
Oh me freends Eternity is an awfy lang time,
weel beyond oor een an sicht o mine,
aye this life is unfair tae cause sic pain an despair,
tae brek oor herts in a thoosand dauds,
must be workings o hertless gauds.
sae gaither in yer airms yer kith an kin,
tae ignore them aa wid be a sin.
Lou them dearly beyond compare,
dinae mak their hert sair.
Tae hae them leave withoot yer blessing,
wid be tae lose them fur ever mair.
Mak yer peace wi them at war,
offer understauning nae matter
how faur ye hae to travel.
APM 25/01/2024
Poetry soup, long time no see
I miss you and your knowledge deep like a sea.
To me you are more than a cup of good tea,
And your lovely assurance is always a guarantee.
Oh! Poetry soup... My love, like Ogbono soup.
Poetry soup, all these while I missed your
Palatable ink, those lines that makes me think.
And even in a haste i don't blink but think
To gain from your wisdom tank...
Oh! poetry soup... My favorite egusi soup.
Poetry soup, long time no see but now I am back,
Better and bigger, yes even stronger to strum your artistic
Guiter.
Oh! Poetry soup, my sumptuous tomatoes stew..
Charlesmelody Ewache Onyilo
(Lightning Ink)
12-11-2023
I know I'm getting old but trust me I have 20-20 vision and that's with my glasses on. But damn, it's been over a year since I saw her completely naked. And I must say, she looks better dressed. I hope I don't hurt her feelings, but she leaves me dumbfounded. I can see all her fine lines, curves and imperfections. For Christ sakes she looks like all bones, and she's skinny as a rail. There is a bright spot to this though. After 3-4 months I won't have to see her naked again for at least another year...and, she is the tallest tree on my block.
FOR A LONG TIME
Waiting for a long time
to get something to pay
beware of that any crime
truth is our only way.
Our hopes are always very high
to get something to pay
never tries or to be in shy
work- don’t go away .
Good works for a new dawn
everything will be right
new hopes and works- will began
for a better world-we fight
Our minds should be straight
looking all steadily
all goods things wants to get
stepping on gently .
Finding way through hard work
whatever we likes
wants to create a foot mark
something to find .
Be pride and patience to others
be faith is only duty
not to force on the others
not become very moody .
--------
The young giraffe ate a hot red pepper
The poor animal felt like a leper.
The spicy fruit was too hot and it took
Her long to digest for some greens to hook.
The zoo keeper called it a Giraffe Park.
Ostriches buried their heads in the dark.
The ostrich wanted to say I'm sorry,
Took too long for its neck just to worry.
The ostrich and the giraffe meant to race.
They came neck to neck and both had great pace
Medals won. Giraffe needed a ladder.
Guard fell from a height, it did not matter.
A new male giraffe was brought to the zoo
Lovingly they twined their necks through and through.
Soon life took its course with a baby boy.
The ostrich buried its head with no joy.
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