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The last day of the year, and I paid a visit to show my respects
To attempt to humble my flesh
To give my reflection of a failed man
I
Who designated days of joy saved up from past jobs/relationships
Felt the lightning crash into my soul
Thinking it took the weird from one to half my whole self
I came to the plot
Twisting rose petals into my palm
And sprinkling them at her feet
Asking for forgiveness in a futile plea
I needed someone to speak to, and in this case
Spirits only speak to those who don't come forth weak with intentions
Renditions of "Wash Me" running through my mind
In all white, I delivered a bouquet
A brief say
A respite from desperation, my soul hath claimed
Prayed for her rest, her family's best, and a ceasing of my shameful pain
Hell, at one point, I thought I messed up her name.
Not even nervousness
Just urgently purging in the place where "my mama" 'nem stay
Pennies in her best number
A purple candle and rattle to battle back bad energies
The wind was so telling, that I couldn't even catch my breath
Running from reality
I asked for clarity in love through death.


Ifeanyi N Okoro II © 1/2/2024
Rest in peace.  Forgive me.  What do I do now?
We'll walk holding hands
So tight kissing all through the night and
We'll talk like lover's tonight
And we'll end up making love under the Moonlight.
True Love 💖💖💖
I would've loved to meet her.
The sweetness you spoke in her honor.
A gentle breeze in a month of freezes.
Electric, connective, explorative.

I would love to meet the next.
The sweetest of peas.
Only bluest when being overly fruitful.

Reflections of trekking tower of the familial tree.
Expectations of expecting in introspect.

Forgive me for being greedy, wanting to be involved in your life.
Forgive me for involving my love.

I shall let the resting rest, the ones that need rest to get rested, and give my mind and soul a rest.



Ifeanyichuku Okoro © 2023
October 24th, November 4th.
Why Men Cry in the Bathroom

For so many reasons.
I will tell you the why.
I think you know,
Or perhaps, you think you know.

Men are always O.K.,
Even when not.

We expect the worse,
Accept the worse,
Nonetheless,
We are forever unprepared.

Wearily, we cry,
In the bathroom, in private,
Lest sighs slip by,
We be unmasked,
Early warring, strife signs warning.

Copious, tho we weep
Before the mirror confessor,
It is relief untethered,
Unbinding of the feet,
An uncounting
Of beaded rosaries,
Of freshly fallen hail stones,
Of night times terrors
By dawn's early edition's light,
and welcomed.

But look for the mute tear,
The eye-cornered drop,
*** tat, that never drops,
But never ceases formation and
Reforming, over and over again,
In a state of perpetuity of reconstitution,

The tippy tear of an iceberg revealing,
And I see you peeping, wondering,
What is beneath


Look for:
the torn worm-eaten edges of spirit,
thrift shop bought, extra worn,
grieving lines neath the eyes,
where the salt has evaporated,
discolored the skin.
worry lines,
under and above,
browed mapped, furrowed boundaries.
the laugh line saga,
where better days are stored,
recalled, as well as recanted,
publicly, privately.

Why just men?

I don't know,
Perhaps,
it is all I know.


Jan 6, 2013
your effusive and lengthy comments are each a poem in their own right.  

Tinkered with June 22, 2013
With a push from Bala,
A serial peeper, thank God!
If I came to you
Wounded
Wound up
Winded
Weary

Then remember that I couldn't fight what I felt for you anymore.
Why battle beating hearts that besiege my pride?


And

If I fell to my knees

There would be no need to lift me.

You already have when you smiled my way.
Burying a vision of you in my memory.
On my gravesite, blow the pinwheel, so you could send my soul spinning to heaven with every breath you take.



Ifeanyichuku Okoro II © 2023
Firing squad. In the field.  You can always take my life.
I
Humbled and haunted
Decided to let go of my breaths
Hold on to terrible and troubled terms
My eyes
Bar tears from encroaching terra firma
For fear of being human
When told I was interstellar

I
Heavy and hollow
Created chasms between family, friends, and flirts
It's not a sign so cold
But a zodiac killing field sans air
Blame is solely on my solar surface
I'm burning with regret I refused to own
Because I didn't recognize the seeds I've sewn

I
Heart-ached and hoping
Resign to my final destination
Loved her
Continued to adore
Pouring out olive oil and anointing my tongue to release the finest psalms to surround her name
Blowing kisses to the wind to carry my dedication and declarations to decorate her skin

I
Halted
This Earth's praxis upon invisible axis
To view you
One last time
Before I die again.



Ifeanyichuku Okoro II © 2023
If I cannot cry, then take my eyes and exchange them for rain
  Nov 2023 Ifeanyichuku Okoro II
lyka
I sold my soul to poetry
And never looked back
But now every relationship
Is a writing prompt
Every trauma, a metaphor
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