melancholic tidings—
optimism asystolic, now
fool’s paradise.
laconism stentorian
saline fluid agglomerating
“malignant” obfuscates,
formulates black stars.
fluttering, clouting
against ghostly pale tile.
aesculapian screams
circumnavigate weak cerebrum,
foxtrotting endlessly,
cold-blooded mockery.
serene bedrest
sinking linen counterpane.
morphing, suffocating
anaemic stature,
tasting like metal.
thrashing abnormal growth
actuate tunnels unending
i feel it.
i feel everything.
head encumbrance,
vessels strangulated,
blue skin a horror.
needle-punctured, scanned.
inhuman study. a specimen,
neglected medical non-priority.
fragile. no mind.
deteriorating. weaker.
sick. morningly.
please. help. ignored.
stained. vomit. pale.
monitor accelerating.
oxygen. chemotherapy.
please. help. me.
i. am. human.
bottom. medical. food. chain.
neglect. oxygen. oxygen.
oxygen. oxygen.
need. medicine.
nurses.
loud.
sonorous.
ringing.
light.
hunger. thirst. taste. smell. vision. touch. hearing.
taste. smell. vision. touch. hearing.
vision. touch. hearing.
touch. hearing.
dont. go.
hearing.
loud.
asystole.
They said the youths
Are leaders of tomorrow
That we're the future
In a system we're not featured
Where the youths are not in the picture
That's why they never nurture us
They always acting like vulture
Giving us mental and emotional torture.
How would the youths
Partake in a system
That doesn't recognize them
Even to socialize is now a crime
Freedom of speech and movement
Which is our fundamental human rights
We've been denied, due to their insecurities.
They're brutalizing us
Traumatizing us
Same people
That is supposed to protect us
Are the ones killing us
Inputting pains and fears in us
Just to sustain and maintain their negligence.
Surprising how quickly fate turns its back.
You had it all and squandered it.
Regrets won't bring it back.
Should have fought for everything you had.
Instead you just let it slip away.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
The lure of lucrative jobs
In foreign lands
Excites desperate souls
As they see a better future
Than in their homeland
Recruitment agencies
Operate from shady joints
Promising dream jobs
With perquisites to match
For these gullible customers
Human traffickers
Pose as messiahs
Enticing innocent candidates
From rural areas
With tempting proposals
Once on board,
They exploit the poor souls
By confiscating
Their travel documents
And short-selling their skills
They are not petty criminals
It is a well-oiled machinery
That perpetrates
And perpetuates
Such atrocities on migrant labour
Many agencies chip in
To run this recruitment mafia,
Negligent government agencies
And casual outlook of courts
Add to their woes
The hapless victims
Pay a heavy price
And get sucked into the vortex
Of a vicious circle
They did not bargain for
You shirk the weight of parenthood's call,
leaving your children to wither, unfed.
Are you a father, or mere specter of one?
A mother, or just a shadow that's gone?
While others nurture, educate, and guide,
you abandon your own to fate's tide.
Your concern lies with outsiders, it seems,
while your kin suffer, and your legacy beams.
The children you forsook, the partner you left,
will rise to greatness, despite the neglect.
Will you claim pride in their future fame?
Seek praise for years of absence, and hollow claims?
Awaken to your duties, and seize the day,
for the future beckons, and will not stray.
Cracked dusky humid industrial decay
Perched crows survive death of abandoned Chevrolet
A testament of humanity’s constant change
Written for Ink Empress' 'Unwritten Absence' Poetry Contest.
C(ulpa)ble
Your unwritten absence unravelled much
Disrobing piteously your impure intent
Starkly exposing a ravaged soul as such
Cocooned in dark yarns of deceit, I lay spent
In golden gilded cage tarnishing from neglect
Plated with cosmetic veneer for society's consent
Yet, you were oblivious to the storm brewing, most perfect
Bidding the right time to sound its thunderous dissent
NEGLECT, tacitly accepted afore, HENCEFORTH NEVER GOES UNCHECKED!
"What is life but a succession of preludes to unwritten words . . . "
Quote by_Constance La France
Of superficial relevance whatever he had hidden
Hence negligence regarding love ought to be forbidden.
For wasting precious time has ruffled rich regret
Thus when I ponder he again, I’d rather just forget.
Though memories of we strikes without forewarning...
And it hurts to live a life frequently in mourning.
22/11/2022
Writing Challenge- “V” Forms
Sponsored by: Constance La France
Theme: Writing
We take for-granted all of our sin,
But punish mistakes made by our own kin.
We cowardly save only our own skin,
Instead of ever unleashing the hero within.
If you can't succeed by trying
you should try again denying,
as your second time in trying
means you're never meant denying.
How can a parent not care for their child?
Nothing but pure negligence on their part
Sadly, there was a lack of supervision
Right from the start
A dark scenery on display
With lots of sorrow
With all the bitterness on hand
There may not be a tomorrow
Of Law, Negligence, Sentiment & Sonnet
(ignorantia populi est calamitas populi)
Of law, negligence, sentiment and sonnet,
Man is and must always be in commotion.
Law has given us many an asset
To mold our future with set-out notion.
Negligence camouflaged itself in Trojan House
Sanctity of law was exposed to Hiroshima.
Logic was to save glorious mother Themis
But sentiment crawled in from America.
Democracy is not always what it appears to be,
Where sentiment has blindfolded us against reason,
And what we see as reason is indeed treason
Democracy dies, and we’ll never disagree to agree.
Negligence has murdered law, and sentiment has
Swallowed fault
All may be lost, I fear, except my expository sonnet.
Bolaji Ramos
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