When the vigor of my youth goes astray
And the images of my past start to play,
In my dreams are hopes burned to ashes,
My future becomes nothing as I bat my lashes.
Pray, psyche pray
From the distress in which we lay
That we don't see the winged seraphs today;
Let all come undone
But only when my dreams are born.
My youth has rued its mistakes
Consequence has rained on us like plagues.
Pray, psyche pray
That our actions of yore don't ruin tomorrow.

-

I wore my armor inside out
The only thing blunter than my blades
Are my hands.
Founderous roads to the valley of a fading heart
But I have a courageously beating heart
And in the midst of red berries and pines,
They ask if it was love or pain I found


I wore my armor inside out
Fighting the remains of someone else's battle
And trying to save a man who fights a battle within himself
Cupid stood amused with a pout;
All out of arrows and only a broken bow
But in the face of hope are pointy vines,
Tell them a little pain was all I found.

-

She hugged her knees as though she
Was pleading to the fleas going about like a garland above her head
It started raining and she was at the market by the river bank
And the rain washed down to her feet like
Water sipping into arid lands.

Her eyes counted the different shades of umbrellas and raincoats
Whilst her grumbling stomach was not being a keen student
Perhaps water?
But it wasn't thirst she suffered;
She was at the market by the river bank
And it rained and rained
Perhaps a little shrimp or crab or fish
Or a plate of any dish
But the world swam by
Without looking at the rough pebble by the river bank.

-

Some memories are like parietal arts
Drawn on the wall of caves
of prehistoric origin—
Abandoned by the cavemen
And waiting to be discovered by the modern people.

-

For it was dawn at midday
And the cockerels barked
But peace sailed on Poseidon's sea
Where the nightingale sang...
They watched on
They watched on
Coveting the serenity that floated afar
From the impaling tunes of the crows
Hovering above them
From the sins their fingers dug deep
From the vileness their hearts still harbored.

Peace sailed on Poseidon's sea
Where the nightingale sang;
The nightingale sang a dirge
That sounded melodious from afar...
Stay Ashore.

-

LÁÀÁRỌ̀ ÒÒDUÀ

"Ẹ kó igi síná yìí"
The women worked about the chief's backyard...
Peeling here, turning there,
Others instigated the pestle
Against the mortar
Then, there was singing a Cappella.

"Háà, iyọ̀ o dun ọbẹ̀ yìí"
The men's laughter went in sync
With my grumbling stomach;
My mother's eyes caught mine
As she adjusted her loosed wrapper;
"Oúnjẹ ku díẹ̀, pẹ̀lẹ́."

"Ẹ̀yin ọmọ Odùduwà,
Ọdún tuntun ti dé o"
It was playing children,
Happy women cooking and singing
And men talking and drinking.
Then there was a five year old
Pleading to the worms in her maw...
"Oúnjẹ ti dé 'lẹ̀ o"
I smiled.

-

And the green leaves withered
In the palms of her experience;
A never ending spiral of wanton melancholy.
She cowers at the sound of forever...
A never ending spiral of wanton melancholy.

-

To unpack or not? 
My hair is still tied up in a knot
Covid, please let me head north.

-

I walked miles inside me
My heartbeat / pace by pace...
Where is the light I seek?
That tiny, tiny light
And it appeared before me.

Moving slowly, it lead me
To a path I know not
And my mother's child would not indulge me
Today her voice has fallen...
Psyche is with me on this.

I followed the light
That tiny, tiny light
That held promises of haven
To a place I know not...
Then it went down before me
And I looked down;
It was hollow,
It was warm,
A headstone would look perfect on it
And I will fit in it just fine
I will fit in it just fine.

-

Home is light years away
And we're lost amidst the stars we fell for
Now oblivious to our loved ones when
They look up at night,
How can we find our way in this trickery foss?
This beauty was just at face value
Talk about irony;
Hoping for hope in an otiose orb
And finding grace in the graceless
This might just be our elysium... Mi amor.
In our new found abode/ in dust and spiders
We could almost reach for the stars
And hope that one day,
They'll lead this
Rather creaky engine back home.
For now, I'll take solace in your sparkly orbs.

-