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I’ll send the feather from my Hat!
Who knows—but at the sight of that
My Sovereign will relent?
As trinket—worn by faded Child—
Confronting eyes long—comforted—
Blisters the Adamant!

It makes you stronger, doesn't last longer, I get that.
But what am I supposed to do with this load of sadness right now?

Captain America
Every time I swoon when I see that shield
And not just because the actor is hot
Because his heroics stop my heart
I’ve taken the quizzes
Taken every test
Researched the blogs, the books, the films
Determined he is my guardian angel
My soul
My mind
Follow his footsteps
Little man taking the hits
Rolling with the punches
Making those around me feel lit
Mingling with demons and metal men for lunches
I want to be everything that represents him
But he does not represent his name
Not america, roger
But what america is meant to represent, roger
He is not the original 13 colonies, roger
Or north america, roger
Zarahemla, roger
Nephi lehi, roger
But he is Steve, roger
Holding the torch passed by a martyr, roger
Wearing stripes and stars like a crown, roger
Surrounding all those who draw breath with an ancient shield, roger
He is almost a modern Christ in a mortal mind, roger
He is what I wish to be
But sadly I’m not an allegory
I’m not God
But I want to be

There up in the galaxy
are symbols wrought.
Symbols are the secrets
of life encoded in nature
which man inhabits
and must decode to survive.
In deciphering symbols of life,
man needs wisdom.
Hidden within the
framework of our universe
are sacred symbols telling us
about the infinite powers of creation.
Deep beneath the ocean,
even down the darkest
depths of the earth,
symbols speak.
Within the forest,
Signature symbols of
the plants are made manifest.
Every single thing about
our lives are coded symbols
with profound hidden message.
Below the earth are hidden symbols
of the precious gem stones subtlely emanating their secrets to help mankind.
Within the tumultuous ebbs of the tides the surf searches the sand for symbols.
Our lives are symbols of the almighty scattered all over the cosmos.
Symbols are everywhere if we can but only look for it.
©2018,Emeka Mokeme.All Rights Reserved.

School was a pleasing dream
a world of wonder
in which I yearned
to get through the door
to the desk
to my graphite, with its #2
That scent of worn paper
and paste upon the wood
my place of reprieve
full of my passions like a
kid in a toy shop
a poor boy in a rich man's world
that was when school was
a neverending treasure trove
with golden coin upon coin
but then was suddenly halted by a hard brick wall
the word testing carved against the stones

3rd grade hit
and then my mind
began to bite their words
turning them to solid stone
as time passed on my thoughts degraded
till all was gray
and uniform
like a blonde child in a **** school
mind wiped and reprogrammed
forced to stay in line
scolded to sit still
throwing culture out the window
till only the standardized colors of a flag remained

Now I’m just a bibliophile
sitting atop a pile
with books and texts throughout the ages
heaped under my feet
but I can not make out their stories
For their pages are blackened
and their words blurred
like a rushing river of soiled ink
caused by cluttered shelves
in the library of my mind
that has been burned by torches
held by men and women in suits and ties
holding badges of authority
like my mind is a criminal
being investigated by the FBI

They tell me I should know
that it’s easy
1, 2, 3 go
but I can’t
they locked my door
once they began to teach their TEKS
my colors hid and got locked beneath
and now my mindsets stuck
with no hope for release
What was a rainbow
with it’s *** of golden words
Now resides a rusting locker
with chipping paint and faded words

The creative concepts once in my head
have been broken by just five letters
that changed my words to dull markings
and erased the color from my thoughts
like the page in a coloring book quickly erased
so the sky would be blue instead of magenta
because the sky can never be anything else but blue

Five letters that I thought defined who I was
that I was always worried to fail
A big red F peeking over my shoulder
Five letters that could destroy
thinking that they controlled my fate
three old ladies threatening with their scissors and thread
to cut a cord made of multiple choice answers
Five letters that could mean success
or doom

like a hazy brained plan to stop a war
that could only continue to grow worse as
each soldier fell while running through the minefield of society

But those five letters are just a tool
To add an extra grade
and a little more rules
Stamping labels upon our IQ
Taking away our peace and serenity
Angling our goals away from our own
Adding stress upon tentative minds
Redirecting our thoughts from right to left
so suddenly trees are plastic and
the alphabet only has letters A-H
and all we know are large cement buildings
instead of fields of flowers
My whole world in a pint sized room
with flowing waterfalls that burst from my imagination
obscured by bland walls and heavy doors
Colorful assemblies with
shushing giants making up a chorus
irony written on every poster of every wall
learn and you’ll pass
go to sleep and you’ll pass
eat healthy and you’ll pass
no need for imagination
no need for outside experience
just sit in that chair
and take that quiz
that test
that exam
that benchmark
We’ll have fun later in the year,
but that better not be your essay topic
and that story better not be fiction
And all the while I scream

I want color
I want the sky to be magenta
I want to use every word and phrase available to me
I want to soar as crane flying across a lake
I want to run like a track star to the the finish
Throw down the pencils
the printed paper
throw away the charts and empty messages on the walls
I want to run down the halls
and dance instead of sit
I want to sing instead of speak
I want to learn instead of being taught

But all I can do is sit
All I can do is write
All I can do is conform
So I won’t be thrown in the trash
like a piece of worthless junk
that still has a purpose
So i won’t be stuck in the same room for more than eighteen years
like a prison sentence for not knowing the laws of this country
So i won’t be left behind
like the homeless in the streets

School was a joy
Education was a treasure
But now is defiled
by one
small
packet of paper

The sun ripples red through the veils of inevitability
Decay and darkness besets all
When everything we know shall not fall,
but crumble, into oblivion.

We are forgotten.

Still, we see through filth of your disguise.
Your bankruptcies and moral demise.

Oh how peaceful change can be,
If it is attained through conformity!
We are your once lost dream!

The lonesome figurines along your wall,
The distant, wailing familiar call,
And the endless strife for remembrance,
That we may not be strangers to the froths that we are
That we may struggle to come so far, only to fail, unlike you.

And so, by mere virtue of the nuisance that is all other things
We are, among the many things that we are,
Honest, True, Controversial and arguably good,
But, forgotten… dismissed and forlorn.

The children of dismay, whose wills robbed and voices clogged,
Once again, the generations outcast and lost to your pointless device.

I've fallen in love with myself
no one beside me but me
I crave the moments
when I can't breath
when there is no more oxygen in my lungs
all ****** out by a touch
no one to receive my breath
no one to give it back
I hate that I love myself
because now
i've lost the One i love

And the Sun turned your way
right on cue ...
All of God's creatures ... singing ...
singing along with you.

Grasses all greener
wherever you have walked.
Every ear turned and listened ...
listened when you talked.

Such a joy to watch your dance,
making the sky so blue.
All of the flowers dancing  ...
dancing along with you

And every night the moon is ...
everywhere you are.
Your eyes, like pools of purest water ...
catching every falling star.

My heart, comfortably captive ...
right there in your hands.
Just to see you smile ...
and know deep down, that yours understands.

I will always be where you are
every moment throughout time.
No distance, emotion, problem or utterance
could keep your heart from mine.

For you too, in such a special place
will forever live in my heart.
I've searched for the words to express this to you ...
This poem ... my humble start.