Cracked
I thought you were perfect
Thought you were the final ingredient to making my life complete ... perfect!
Only to find that you were cracked
Yes, flawed!
At first I wanted to cast you away
Then came a rude awakening
I discovered something about myself
I found that I was cracked too
That the perfection I was seeking was driven by the imperfection in me  
I was seeking my own wholeness in you
Yet I am flawed
Yet I am cracked
Perfection now holds a different meaning
The right imperfection makes perfect
And we all need some of that imperfect perfectness

S. Achilleos
June 20th, 2020

This is not just a tangible cold
But a chill in the heart
To say goodbye and love from afar
For the very one you held so dear
Became the root cause of many a fear
One never knows you're in the eye of the storm
Until you escape and look back
From the other side of the mirror
Things have now become clear
Uproot and cast away
The naysayers who sowed pitfalls in your way
Yet bid such not a bitter farewell
For hiding underneath that glossy shell
Unveiled a serpent you thought you knew so well

Sean Achilleos
April 4th, 2020

Sometimes the one closest to you is your biggest enemy...

The Owls are Watching

In memory of Helen Martins
'The Owl House'
Nieu Bethesda, South Africa

In sculpture and rock rested your art
Cement faces that speak volumes
Of emotions and tales untold
As mysterious as your life itself
Glittering walls of crushed glass
That shone by candlelight
Outside of art you were branded
Though remembered as unique and ahead of your time
With big glass eyes the owls watch the world
What was once your sanctuary
Now a showcase to the world
Recognized at last
Unspeakable loneliness of a soul misunderstood
Now your handwritten letters are framed and displayed for all to read
But you don't mind the curiosity of mankind
With cement hands raised to the heavens facing the east
You drank your chosen cup
Your Mecca now complete

Written by Sean Achilleos
28 March 2016©

How this poem came about:

I was a visitor to the Owl House Nieu-Bethesda South Africa in 2015. Approximately, one year later I was inspired to write a poem about the late great Helen Martins. I was intrigued by the eccentricity of this woman.

One evening while in my living room and enjoying a glass of wine, my eye caught the cement owl in my windowsill which I had purchased outside the Owl House from a vendor. I saw its big blue glass eyes glaring at me. At the time I was listening to a Jennifer Ferguson record, and decided to write while the music was playing. Once I had completed the poem I felt exhausted. Then a very strange phenomena occurred, the lights went off for a few seconds and came back on, unlike a power surge. It reoccurred a second time that same evening, and never since. It felt like a supernatural intervention. As far fetched as it may sound, it seemed like Mrs. Martins had personally given her approval of the poem. I then decided to email it to the official Owl House website. I didn't think much would come of it. However, they embraced the poem and were generous enough to display it on their official Website for a number of years under a section titled "A Visitor's Perspective".

https://g.co/kgs/BPyx1U

We met in our minds
One enchanted evening
Blue black hair
Dark eyes that pierce the soul ... MY soul
We embraced for a fleeting moment
Glassy eyed ... dream believers
Fools like us keep the world entertained
Like human dartboards
We dodge poisonous arrows
We play the games that others don't dare to play
From the pages of a book
The story comes alive
We are able to make believe
Then like a bat in the night
You mysteriously disappeared out of sight
At the first glimpse of the morning sun
Headache ... empty glass
The stench of wine combined with silence
Tangible silence ...
Suddenly it doesn't matter where we are
We're somewhere on the planet ... You and I
The face of the earth they call it
Under the same blanket of stars
And I think I have learned to love you from afar
A necessary evil to survive

Something lies beyond
The power of Love is unity
Fear thrives on division
Life online ... A virtual existence
An implementation of fear
Something unseen is at work
Is the beast on his way
Or perhaps already here
A blanket of darkness has covered the earth
An awkward silence hangs in the air
And fear has become tangible
The earth seems sad and tired
Then a division line shall be drawn
Across earth and sea
The time to separate sheep from goat has come
And what is hidden shall be exposed
Like an overripe fruit that has fallen from a tree
Burst open for all to see what was lurking inside

You are the world you live in
Every time you crush a cigarette on the ground
You're burning yourself
Every time you cast a piece of plastic to the wind
You're littering in your own garden
When you dispose of waste in the waters
You're poisoning your very own well  
When you pollute the air
You're defiling your lungs with menacing toxins

I am the world I live in
You are the world you live in
We are the world we live in