one I have forgotten.
if one can count seconds, heartbeats and deception
once detected deep in the surface of one's soul,
to one each another least he be left alone
warm and cosy by the fire during winter
can one count exceptions?
I am a tree
I breath through roots
my torso bares fruit
my leaves feed masses
my branches shelters those musings at ease
musicians and lovers alike, I nest they here
where the Life cycle is on it's merry way
do wave an hello on your way to believe it?
the chambers of my veins a house
to hallow vanity creeping in
a fault in the divine design, all my feelings acute
to bursts of melody, agitated for the walls are dim,
curvy and cold to the touch: caffeine occupies the throne
bliss got me thinking I am my worse enemy;
I heard it somewhere before, 'I am a tree'
and from there came symphony
a compromising melody:
''Do come visit me
sit under my lover's chiseled breast
and please,
do sing me a fairytale as I (we have poisoned that well)
a nesting shelter provide,
season dependent,
to all species kind
Proving one exchanges rumor, gossip and talk of the world
seeing you are passing by and I
chose not to uproot and leave
the worm would miss me, the birds would need me, the humans would remember me by
that very thought will suffice.''
I am a tree
from a speck of dirt, water and seed
we are a desk, a bed, a wardrobe and a walking stick
as gods they judge and decimate but we accommodate
we are a home
a beam of hope, a sturdy boat, an uncompromising forest.
we are books a plenty, we are fuel for the fire
we are the coal that elevates the human race
the fences that now infest the very fields that feed the masses
we are still very much needed and yet no cry is heard in the wind.
the fig tree in my back garden was a family friend, you see
joining in at the Play, our mother once said Angie was just that,
a distant, reserved relative of sorts: those quirky and silent ones
deemed felt in made believe, in a howl commendable dance pledge to the breeze
dances at midnight mid hurricane at the heart of summer in a crescent, obviously
misunderstood and yet firm and forgiving, of my naivety and gaiety
robust in face of my torment and selfish recourse of take, take, take
Angie's was besieged, defaced and taken away in a single day
relish the contrast in mourning for want it makes the good times
cruel if not more vivid, the rain soon followed as I knew it should.
From the cinder ashes a seed to which a speck of water brought new life
on that Autumn day 20 years and a day ago I made a promise I intend to keep
truer than my prior arrangement ever fleeting of farewells and hellos
to hang in a tread and common souls from Levi's arms and bound anew
to keep the cycle activated my own new family and little ones by default
should too be introduced to an old family friend, back Home.
My bad hand rubs the top of my head
the god's given one limps at the side
lazy by birth, unskilled by trade, silent in defiance.
the ceilling of knowledge of leaking
which pronoun proposes a more preposterous proposition
than to wear a helmet does good in keeping harm at bay
which restless, wrestles a jolt at my presence
stroke down at my centre, an epitome of gull
strangler of peace, the blood price on minor print
a secret and life lesson well kept it seems for fools
wear crowns and wage war to too sustain the charade
of pain for security, in safety on the believe the contrary be folly
misguided, in fact, tyrannical and perhaps maniacal even.
why practise a common tongue if signals will do
why risk missing a target if tangents will do
we do not share the same tastes,
I love coffee she sells tea.
karma police has thought raided my temple,
my dignity and my spirit unchained and given new identity
on my way to believing I am entirely the wrong pale shade of crazy
ashamed they are out there hiding from me, reborn, led to lands unknown
to start fresh is an opportunity given enough time
said learning curve can too be brief in a shallow peak
if not breached, snapped in half in remorse.
feet cold, hands wet, hair tight and chest looped in a twist
mixed messages are a crucible of meeting crossroads playing slots.
needing the jurisdiction of supervision
revisited by proper architects
this temple is on the verge of collapse;
the rebuild in limbo, a prolapse a waste of time
articles converge: 'It is going forward' // 'Changes are being considered' //
'Project been abandoned indefinitely seeing the boss man fled with the foreman's daughter to Brazil'
there is a man
by the window
fixing a light
on the building
opposite mine
by the third floor
or is it the second
by the count, however
they do things differently
in America where all is
well, holy Mecca of self-made
sharpen teeth up takers church
goers of dreams reality a plenty
gold replaces blood as a living commodity
and diamonds are cheap
pray forgive
my misconception
trickery ill-devised
It is Africa
I intended to allude to
a cursed box
flawed piece of earth
where children mine
hard grafters of hardy stock
drifters, family breadwinners
angels in the making
born to die granted
but forced to the gates sooner at no added cost
get these particulars which names
minerals of necessity
fragments of misconduct
that one cannot replicate if not told
informed about the new strange ways
that the World rules itself sideways
so that the man
which so soon and efficiently
swapped these office lights
across the road
mission accomplished
my object of admiration
fled the scene!
a parting gift,
the now working office lights
Christmas lights in fact
are left on
on a cold morning
clear November heights
yellow bashes yellow
on the building, by the window, opposite mine.
these are the sort of things I come up with
when I sit by a clear cold November day
without a shade or clouds to distract
a buzz in the curve beneath my existential
empiric soul, I want to own it all for myself
to abuse, shove along and fall in love
may tragedy and filth surge all at once
wash all over me just to feel how it feels
I bet I wouldn't do it so (I confess I did poison the well)
I might just forget that's all that I want
all of someone for myself
I write it to Santa but never ship it
never sent
never even left my lips
kept it all to myself: start to finish.
