I

always

          Find

Freedom

               In

          Disappointments

                By

                   Changing

               My

             Perspectives

1.
Let's install some fail-safes
You have to convince yourself that this is really what you want
If you aren't gay, pretend you are
If you are gay, pretend you're not
I guarantee you will not fall in love

2.
Pick the sweetest person
Someone your parents will approve of
Someone who is so perfect for you that you just don't understand why you're sitting alone right now
If you're not voted cutest couple for the yearbook, you can't possibly be in love, right?
Too many people are watching

3.
Try to love them
Try to give yourself a textbook relationship
Go on dinner dates
And watch scary movies so you can cuddle up together
Argue about why you should definitely pay "because it's romantic"
Blow out the candle when she's not looking

4.
Stop taking off work on Friday nights
It was never going to work, anyway, so why bother getting attached?
When you realize that they love you,
And you are still sitting there alone, that's when your heart breaks
When you realize you can walk away and be unchanged
Because how could you possibly walk away from two entire years with another human being and not feel something
Your heart's going to break anyway, just because it didn't.

It is difficult to understand
What separates you and I,
Perhaps you reached, but found no hand,
There must be more than meets the eye.

Deep chasms line the spectrum,
Like cliff faced faultlines of distance where there's none,
One slight of step, a little momentum,
And into an abyss beyond reach of the sun.

By nature, we are much the same,
Despite the nurtured deception,
I refuse the notion that I should shame
Still watered ripples of my reflection.

I know that judgement is near,
for the frightening catastrophic
occurrences of brutality in
countries around the world
towards their fellow man,
especially in communities nearby
is heartbreaking and
freezes the heart of anyone
witnessing the outflow of wickedness
of man displaying their cruelty,
arrogantly showing their
foolhardiness with reckless abandon
and refusing to be mindful of their actions
or do anything to ameliorate their acts.
Show of force from our supposed
protectors against the ones they were
suppose to defend and protect is baffling.
Harassment of their citizens
is the order of the day.
No day passes by without a form of intimidating gruesome display of force.
The innocent ones were made to suffer.
No protection of any kind for the young
and fragile ones.
The weak and afflicted ones were
abandoned to die.
It seems there's war going on when
actually there's none.
How can we bridge this gap between
the elite and the poor?
This gully is too deep for our people to cross.
It looks like the gazelles and the bison crossing the Serengeti river,
while the lions are having their fill,
the crocodile are having the best time
of their lives.
There must be something to be done to heal our land.
Or is this a punishment from the gods?
If they truly exist then they must do something to come to our aid
and heal our people and their lands
so that peace will once again return
and the generation to come will know
that there is God.
©2018,Emeka Mokeme. All Rights Reserved.