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Ishka Apr 2020
too much, too fast
gorging each bit
each morsel
the brain begins to swell

the eyes flitting
unconsciously
unable to close
firm and certain

like a lid over a container not made for it
(yet still pushing... hoping it was the right one)

has it been 10 years?
has it really been - no - 10 years?
sleeping

awoken by
a shard of glass
sticking out from the
chest in the attempt
to reach for
something inside...

if there was yet
anything left inside

just to see if the dust
for so long has settled
on memories, no longer there

is it time to sleep again?
Ishka Feb 2019
now
Drink some water
Take a deep breath
Have some discipline
And energy.

Always have energy.
Ishka Sep 2017
When you're failing at everything,
it's time to stop talking
[cry]
and then start doing.


And keep doing.
Ishka Sep 2017
so many empty spaces
around me.

i cannot place where to go.

my heart yearns for more.

yet my energy is faltering.
Ishka Jul 2015
dare to be awake,
––don't dare
be awake

every minute
every hour
every day

as you watch people pass by
as you receive the ocean's breeze
as the sand freeze your feet
as the people you love cry
as you linger
as you say hi
as you take that first bite
as hear your own footsteps
as you squeeze shampoo onto your hand
as you close every car door
as you fall
as you gasp for air after 40 laps in the pool
as you touch hands
as you feel wool
as your teeth chatter in the cold
as you brace the sun's heat on your cheeks
as you place your earring into place
as you lose your wallet
as you bite your lip
as you tear up after yawning
as your insides are mixed up into feelings of longing
as your heart beats beside someone you want
as you rest your head on the hard train window

...

as you sleep
as you die

pay attention

be awake
*boarding from SYD back to MNL
  Jul 2015 Ishka
Christopher K Bayliss
Josiah Jack
never uttered a sound
when they dragged him away
from the scene.
when his poor body
was eventually found,
the treatment endured,
had been mean.

With no tongue in his head
they had left him for dead.

With a month
on his back,
he did indeed
contemplate.
Only sin
“he was black”
hence forth
this weary state.

They attacked in the night,
hooded and white.

All in all
he was
lucky
to be
breathing at all,
all because
he was plucky,
all because
he stood tall.

A ***** they said
should lower his head.

Were they hooded
for fear?
Were they hooded
in shame?
Most likely,
once covered,
they could hide
of their name.

If things were so right,
why hide out of sight?

Bravery isn't
a word for the ****,
Cowards,
this word comes to mind.
Bravery comes
when there's only one man,
not one
with ten more stood behind.

I will strike in a pack
with someone watching my back.

Their plan
was to ****,
this man
Josiah Jack.
Perhaps they
get a thrill
when someone
cannot fight back.

They get real loud
when they join with the crowd.

Josiah
knew well
that if he
raised a hand
his kin folk
would feel hell
from this
unruly band.

So he did not fight
but gave in to his plight.

They think
they were hidden
beneath that
white hood,
Josiah's hearing
is sound
and his
memory is good.

So when things are forgot,
he will take of his lot.

That's exactly
what happened,
as they lay
in their bed.
The flames hurled
with fury
the sky
filled with red.

This man barbequed them like fish on a rack
and no one put it down to Josiah Jack.
13th July 2015
© Copyright Christopher K Bayliss 2014
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