SHE SEES

beyond the birdsongs and games 
beyond the immemorial shrines 
of herbal concoctions 
beyond the nebulous clouds 
of crises plaguing her virgin land 
she sees the change... 

beyond the tunnel of travails 
of transporting her people out of her land 
beyond the cosmetropolitan matrix 
she sees the connection... 
beyond the end
she sees the beginning 
and the world and humanity 
are waiting for her.

 

 

GOD SEND MINE [GSM]

 

no thuraya will put me through to God 
no sagem to send my message beyond clouds 
no nokia to knock on heaven's gate 
no motorola to motor me through 
the lonely lane to life 
no trium to make me triumph in the tunnel 
of ten thousand temptations... 
in supplicative gesture 
my two palms confluencing

connecting me beyond connections 
and inspiring me beyond imaginations… 

 

 

  

LAST NIGHT

 

hiding in the crevices of night 
in the vale of deep passion 
burning in the fiery dust of lust 
sandstorm of sentiments searing 
every drop of hesitation... 
our alluvial sweats suffocating every pore 
in moans we exchanged stolen secrets 
and swore no eye could see us 
but foolish 
you and i 
the moon the stars blind be 
does he sleep?

 

 

 

SEEDS OF PASSION

 

in the garden of my heart 
where resplendent meanings adorn 
the lingering lushness of passion 
where flowering sentiments stand  in style 
rooted in romantic robustness  of fertile heart 
in the garden of my heart 
where flourishing flowers of feelings  
flaunt freely like waves of iridescent  
colours caressing a canvas 
the canvas of my heart 
where dew drops of desires  
perform baptism on the innermost soil of my soul  
the former seeds dying giving way  
to newer finer seeds of passion.

 

 

 

IN BRIEF

 

a glint of ecstasy 
in the eye-corner 
a stimulating stroke of the tresses 
a lingering landing of lissom lips 
on landscape of the mouth 
a desire of the eyes 
and of the flesh 
a trust forged in lust ends in dust.

 

 

 

BYE-BYE FRANCIS

 

expressed in the stillness 
full of profundity 
you have become an unknown quality 
of a step between life and death 
that all flesh is grass 
the flower falls 
and like a candle in the wind 
your breath went off 
life has become a permanent absence 
packing an eternity 
into one final look 
i bid you adieu.

 

  

 

OUR GARDEN

 

the euphony 
that of a symphony of pleasant 
birdsong well-sung 
in the eastern garden well-stretched 
with a smiling sun standing above 
and the world rises in rose-water scents 
from fragrance of flourishing flowers 
here all animals are ours 
and the cascading waterfall us showers 
sweet waters from unceasing rivers 
in the heat of which we say ha 
giving pleasure without measure 
here lies many a treasure 
how we gyrate in happifying gesture

this is eden the start of our dreams 
till someone dents this dainty delectable garden 
and goes hiding... 

 

 

SHE

she roams like a sentence without a period

she stands like a perfectly misplaced preposition

in a simple sentence

 

she gazes queryingly like a strand of question-mark

she yearns for morrow like a future tense

she looks blue like a noun in want of a pronoun

she’s a gorgeous girl like an adjective

in its superlative

she’s concise precise like a one-word sentence

 

she’s charming and even

like the figure after seven

she’s slim as two divided by two

she’s overwhelming like Chinese characters

she’s a hypertensive interjection

a stroke of comma and

an eventual full-stop.

 

 

 

CAN YOU DO THIS?

 

kindle a ray of riddle

rove a lane of love

 

ponder a wave of wonder

pause a flame of force

 

pacify a pang of passion

fondle a bundle of trouble

 

burst a bubble of lust

flush a rush of crush

 

scream a rhythm of dream

drain a rain of strain

 

extinguish angst of anguish.

 

 

 

KALEIDOSCOPE

 

tempting like a flesh-revealing dress

shameless like a one-night stand

unholy like two illicit love-makers

illegitimate like a love-child

insatiable like an incorrigible nympho

traumatized like a violated virgin

lonely like a jilted lover

agonizing like an unrequited love

frustrated like a loverless spinster

searching like an overdue bachelor

intoxicating like a first love

lingering like a loving kiss

ecstatic like a romantic feeling

intact like a virtuous virgin

faithful like two true-blue lovers

hopeful like a courting couple

united like a happily married couple

fulfilled like a dream come true.

CHIMERA

 

moon stars clouds and sun
time merged and dispersed
on the sandy thirsty plains
of sahara we trudged
against fiery trade winds
we forged

sun clouds stars and moon
in cold hunger and strife
we arrived morocco
the threshold to golden europe
as the mirage of golden fleece
played in the sands before our
cataracted eyes

dogs barked and dogged our tails
mortal voices sounded death knell
and we fell one and all
our sunken face asking
is this the way to europe?

 

 

 

IT CAN SPARKLE

 

in the boulevard of

our broken dreams

there will be an oasis

in the desert of our

forlorn hope there

will be a spring

in the place of our famished faces there

will be a fire of fabulous lightning when

every day someone cries

every day someone laughs…

when we can share with others

when a smile can sparkle our lives

there’s no shame in tears.

 

 

 

MY BREASTS

 

my breasts are small

the village say am but a girl

three moons after now

they ask why the golden pair has come

so robust

 

my breasts are big

the village say am spoilt

by the fondling hands of men

who stay behind at the ancient stream

does the act make breasts grow?

 

my breasts are known

like yam tubers in the village market

they are the topic at the village square

mama and papa say i bring home shame

in this court i can make no plea

 

to a harrowing ritual I submit myself

i am another lamb

in the shadowy shrine of breast-ironing.

 

 

 

FACE OF BEAUTY

 

a powdered face

with bleached and transplanted teeth

advertising themselves

a pair of lips dyed with luxurious lipstick

20-karat gold in the holes of erring ears

like gold-ring in the snout of a swine

toe-nails pedicured in scarlet

constructed mediated breasts that

shame reality as they pop out

like the head of seething anaconda

 

a vain and glorious caryatid sculpted

over thousands of moribund nights

a face of beauty no more than skin deep

 

our conscience may mock you

how many of our eyes feast on you!

and in the name of light camera action

we glorify your beauty.

 

 

 

 

I CAN TALK ABOUT IT

 

i can talk about it now…

dusts of broken china clouded the room

pearly pieces of earrings jangled out of their holes

and balls of beads bounced brazenly

off my violated neck

shreds of sundered dress carpeted the floor

pints of blood dotted the bedspread

as the stiletto tore through my flesh

  

i can talk about it now…

the filthy fingers froze feelings on my face

i looked on ceaselessly like a decapitated head

as by a cruel stroke of lightning I was put asunder

and shook like the epicenter of a sacrilegious violence

a temple desecrated

he was on top

as my world began to crash

in the fleeting ecstasy of a stranger

 

but i can talk about it now.

 

 

 

 

HOME, SOUR HOME

 

 

home...
the word is not

what hurts us
it is the space
we call our place
a cauldron of chaos and conflagration
inspired by the convolutions of
counter-claims charges and clashes

home...
the word is not

what kills us
it is a race
we dare not look in the face
a race of evil men
inspired to plunder and murder
it is not home that exiles us
it is our people

our blood.

  

 

 

I BREATHE...

 

the state of mind
the prison of heart

i am the gaoler
i am the warden
waiting to exhale
hesitant to excel

i am the liberator
i am the prisoner of woes
waiting for rebirth

i am the sown seed dying
growing in death
life's breath is within my grasp
i shall breathe again

i breathe
air of renewal.