We’ve reached a point
Where simple words now trigger reactions
Completely devoid of meaning.
I won’t share some of those words now
Because they might trigger you
Or for sure the censor bots
Who patrol the web.
But we can all imagine a few,
Words and symbols which once had use
Rich in context and meaning
But then were perverted
In the name of some now canceled cause.
Of course there are many more causes
Waiting to be cancelled
So soon all descriptive terms and symbols
Will no longer exist to trigger the easily disturbed.
When that day comes
We will be reduced to composing in code
Numbers in combinations of aughts and ones
But then again,
That primary binary basis of reality
Will no doubt trigger us too.
And then we will be left
In silent pantomime of our truths
Reality reduced at last
To the charade it has become.
(9/2/26)
It's neither sympathy
Nor cultural
Neither pure, nor impure
But purely natural.
Yes the blood is real
And it's not to be ashamed of
Yes there's pain and cramps
But it cannot make your work stop!
Yes there are pads and cups
And many electric tools
Yes they are pretty normal
Untill 'n unless you belong to the fools.
Yes there are pills
And they're pretty deadly too!
Just to hide for the sake of tradition
Foolishness become a part of you!
Kitchen can't be restricted,
Temples don't go unholy.
Black bags bring in shame for real,
And give her mind a melancholy.
No it ain't a mockery arsenal,
Not something to make joke of,
We mustn't turn it into slur,
Cuz it's neither pejorative, nor scoff!
Friends should know about it,
Brothers should be taught.
Fathers must not command to hide,
Cuz it's something to be open about!
When of food we did talk
she would balk
of course
to feed on horse
and quail
at tasting snail
but who knew
squirrel stew
was taboo
and don't you know
altho'
I'd never cadge a badger
eating crow
was a no-no
thus dining out
was an ordeal
for there's no knowing
what could be our meal
as going hungry is not fun
when it came to the crunch
I've had ants bat and snake
for lunch
Was it last year, or yesterday?
Old Totem asks Taboo
Who ordered orchestra to play
Was it myself or you?
We never ever ordered that
Replied to this Taboo
But they performed a finest set
Played waltz and boogaloo
So did we dance that night away?
Good Totem asks Taboo
I thought it was the other day
But doubt if it’s true
Your got the memory lapse, my dear
Replied the sweet Taboo
Last time we danced the other year
On Christmas rendezvous
Seems our ship is on delay
Said Totem to Taboo
Its getting late, so why to stay
What are we here to do?
Relax and wait for crescent moon
To Totem said Taboo
I’ll take a ride from here soon
Don’t know about you
So won’t you leave me something small
Asked Totem his Taboo
A little bit of your sweet soul
For memory of you
I’m sorry to upset you, friend
Grinned wonderful Taboo
My soul I would not recommend
I’ve stolen it from you.
Taboo
I can't keep my eyes off
Your rosy peach complexion
Just hanging in the warm
Haitian breeze...
So close but firmly shut.
Guarded by your spiky skin
As if to say wait for you to ripen
under the hot August sun.
To see you smile with
black pearls exposed,
To see you smile
Open and ready
to be plucked...
I want you if only to die
by your poisonous embrace.
Just to taste the nutty flavor
on my tongue. Oh, eight weeks
will be too long.
Forbidden! it is taboo
I shall think of you as a rose
Shall I? A beautiful lilac rose
I shall be evermore struck by
This beautiful rose I am now
Lovesick which there is no
Remedy for, no cure I will
Believe that you are more
Beautiful and precious than
Any other rose. You are set
Apart from all other roses
I suppose I am Lovesick just
Because this I know. It is
Taboo to think of you as such
A rose your eyes are vibrant
Petals filled with loveliness
Your hands are soft as delicate
Rain
I will think of you as the wild
Rose garden on a summer's
Eve. If it were not for the
Beautiful lilac rose, nothing else
Would ever matter
Just better then chimpanzee
After breaking your people’s known taboo.
One, sure, is not escaping a boo!
They would all stop who’d loved to at you coo
Many fighting to glimpse your face “Please who”
Your never change a thing, only cud chew!
Your own mum would serve you rice, no stew,
Dad delaying your drugs after a flu,
About you to his friends “Loose is the screw”
And “Food for sharks” as ship’s captain to crew;
You’re an idiot to these searching for a clue…
So, after what I’d said: mind a taboo.
Even, the beasts in zoos don’t get a boo.
What gain about ‘Who?’ one points to you?
“Look at the guy whom his image slew!”
If it brings tears to your eyes
hold on to your stars
even hidden from the view
my wish will be granted to you
everyone needs a gentle reminder
that unconditional love is not taboo.
Written: January 13, 2023
My homies that don't know me from the outside in
And wherever home is I feel outside in
I feel inside out
Wide open and shut
I keep silent but inside me i am screaming aloud
I keep trying to learn me how to figure me out
Why do they stencil always try to figure me out
Let me sink to the bottom
Then they try to finger me out
Sometimes the world feels scaled down like a figurine house
And I'm a real boy
Or perhaps the houses chew toy
Now I know why they keep swallowing then spitting me out
Yes, I am never about
Yes I am hiding out loud
To my homies that don't know me from the inside out
Some people would you sue,
Others choose to thugs woo
To just make sure you do
What with it you aren't through.
Some men at others boo
Like we would a taboo
Claiming they'd lived in zoo
But later away flew
To with Man start anew.
Still some would raise a hue,
It mention on church's pew
Judge you out of the blue,
Who'd meet his Waterloo.
Some kill for hair shampoo,
When they must hair redo,
Ben for body tattoo
Priced three thousand or two.
There, in the middle of the vehicle free road,
she lulled herself, slowly and gently, back, and forth
to the rhythm of her rocking chair, as she sang
her song in earnest defiance, strident,
misquoted words of randomly recollected hymns,
but she cared not a damn.
Perhaps we should all have joined in
form a kind of manic impromptu congregation
right there, right then,
instead, neighbours looked on and whispered.
Next day she would be gone
taken to Jenkins.
Even us children knew what that was.
When she did come back, nothing was said
The word was never going to exit anyone’s mouth,
Ssssssh - no one dared mention it
but everyone knew
….. mother was mad.
Untrue but repeated again and again;
You made me believe I wasn't worth it
taboo of a friend blasphemy for a partner;
Overdue to see this behavior as unfit;
Whatever you said became a laceration
never did you lay a hand on me;
Pressure to avoid landmines left carnage,
weathered now I'm immune to fallacy.
Four young boys had a Halloween plot to weave
to disprove the gossip they refused to believe,
rumors about an abandoned haunted house
where a psychotic man murdered his spouse.
They shivered in the dark upon their arrival,
all having second thoughts about their survival.
Upon each child's face, an apprehensive frown
then appeared a lady, blood stains on her gown.
Vampire bats swarmed, trapping them inside
tangled up in cobwebs except for one who cried,
"Quick! Run for your lives. The rumors are true.
I'm locked in a Zombie's jaws! This place is taboo!"
They heard growling voices, then the lady's scream!
Was this a nightmare, all having the same dream?
From fear they'd fainted, bodies found at daybreak.
Four foolish children, dead; their hearts on a stake.
October 9, 2021
Something Spooky 8 to 15 Lines Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchin
Why are so many things common to me and you
Not to be spoken about, considered taboo?
written October 9, 2021
Holding it in as long as I possibly could
[Wouldn’t want to stink up my neighborhood]
So, I hurriedly ran to a nearby park
And, surrounded by sweet-smelling flowers
I let it rip! No one was near to hear me
But the sound was ear-splitting, I tell you,
And when it comes to farts, mine was a doozy
So, I hurried home and got in my jacuzzi.
written October 2, 2021
especially for "May The Gas Be With You Farts" Poetry Contest
sponsored by Chantelle Anne Cooke
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