We float
Through purple-velvet skies
Out where black holes are born
And the Milky Way lies

We fly
Through purple-hazed skies
Out where nebulae fade
And an apricot sun spies

We coast
Through purple-blue skies
Out where the platinum moon sits
And supernovas explode as we sail by

* Reprinted from 'Love Letters the Select Collection by Mekael'
© July 29,2009 by Mekael

Kiss me
And I pray
Your kiss
...won't birth a scar

Dream of we
And in that dream
Meet me there
...upon that crystal star

Dawn and I dawn my caftan
With pen in hand
I close my eyes
And start crafting

I put on my djellabah
Which begets my lojong
...and soon
I begin to float

Like paint, ink blankets
The sheets of my Bengali jute
...and soon
I begin to coast

In this moment
I exist happily
Outside of all I know
About me
* Reprinted from 'My Hajj A Collection of Poems by Mekael'
© September 16, 2011 by Mekael Shane

Denied

You bathed, in delusion
Relied

I braised, in illusion

...don't wander

...don't wander 'round in here

...heed the warning, and

...don't wander 'round in here

Yet and still

You are the air

I taste

And breathe

...don't wonder

...and don't wander 'round in here

...don't wonder, heed the warning

...and don't wander 'round in here

Bet or bill

I am the price

You hate to pay

And so, you seethe 

...don't wander

...don't wander 'round in here

...heed the warning, and

...don't wander 'round in here

Perhaps
One day
My son will ask
'Dad, why do you climb? '

Smiling
I'll reply
I climb
So you can fly

* Reprinted from 'Simian Soul Poems by Mekael'
© July 21, 2010 by Mekael Shane

Souls sold for
Antiquated crude
As bitter enemies crossed over
Frozen tundra and vast deserts to duel

Quietly does the Dark Wraith of death
Sweep across the blood soaked terrain
And the Angel of Mercy does the like
To ease our fallen soldiers' pains

America's nefarious war in Iraq has been for naught
Many young lives were
Recklessly packaged for this reckoning
Packaged, parceled, and bought

I've often wondered
If the dead would
Protest against the government's lies
If they could

So many lives extinguished on both sides
They breathe no more
Doomed to the cold cauldrons of their eternal sepulchers
By the wicked Gods of war

* Reprinted from 'Exegesis a Decade of Poetry by Mekael'
© July 14, 2009 by Mekael Shane

The moment in the morning

When our eyes first meet

Is the moment when

...my day begins

There's something amazing about 

The way your eyes glow

That makes that moment for me

...the sexiest "Hello"

When the poet writes
His wrists, he cuts
Then, he bleeds
Into your cup
So you can
....drink

He then, mixes in
Echoic phonesthemic
Units of language
Which ultimately proves
That the poet's blood
...is made of ink

When conjoined
...the sun and sky becomes
More defined
...as the "One"

And as the "One"
...they become
Icarus re-formed, shaped and reborn
...molded by the sun

The sun
...Helios' turmeric colored eye
Sits alight and high
...in Uranus' jealous sky

Lovely is she
Who came
And rescued me

She courageously
Showed me her heart
It, with its tracery of scars

And though the hurt she bears is profound
It has never stopped her
From looking to the stars

* Reprinted from 'Love Letters the Select Collection by Mekael'
© July 29, 2009 by Mekael Shane

Time
Seems...to
Just, fly by
And, get away from me
But, it can't be
That way
With you and
...me

You
Seem...to
Possess, feelings
The same, feelings
Put them right here
Put them all inside
Put them right here inside
...me

I am like
A coarse
Turmeric-hued sun
...in June

You are like
A delicate
Chiffon-hued
...October moon

In my mind, I raced against time
I smoked peyote with the Apache
I chased Kangaroos
Through the bush with the Aborigine
All the while
...I searched for the power within me

In my mind, I outpaced time
I drew cave art with the Neanderthal
I climbed to the top of the mountain with the Sherpa
I hunted seal out on the frozen tundra with the Inuit
All the while
...I searched for the power within me

In my mind, I eclipsed time
I wrote poetry while under the tutelage of Langston Hughes
And I created visual greatness while apprentice to Gordon Parks
I even stood on the wall with Che' Guevara, like a Sentry standing watch
All the while
...I continued searching for the power within me

In my mind, I turned to face time
I wrote an addendum to the Emancipation Proclamation
And I saw the ugly truths
Of freedom's farcical Declaration
All the while
...I continued searching for the power within me

In my mind, I embraced time
I sought to free my nation from the pandemic perils of *******
And I prayed that we Americans would be free of
The snares of racial and economic divide that still has us chained
I did this while searching for truth, in this, our most tenuous hour
...then empyreally, God reached for me, touching me, and I finally found my power

* Reprinted from 'Exegesis a Decade of Poetry by Mekael'
© July 14, 2009 by Mekael Shane

First came the German Shepherd dogs

Next came the water hose

Bodies lynched, then set ablaze 

Flesh singed, then meshed with clothes

Innocent black lives lost, on a blood stained Poplar tree 

Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words 

Echo inside me - echoing epigenetically

"****** run, ****** die, ****** free"

I am he whose antecedents

Suffered and survived the Middle Passage's arduous trip

I am the progeny who sprang forth from their chained ***** 

As human chattel, my antecedents suffered the sting of the whip

Their humanity, dignity and pride

Was debased and denied

Deracinated, their bodies were beaten black and blue

But it was the bruises inside, they tried, but could not hide 

Innocent black lives lost, victims of the lynching rope

Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words

Echo inside me - echoing epigenetically 

"****** run, ****** die, ****** hope"

I say again, I am he whose antecedents 

Suffered and survived the Middle Passage's arduous trip 

I am the progeny who sprang forth from their shackled *****

As human chattel, my antecedents suffered the cabotage of a slave ship

In 1964, they were granted civil rights, but denied civility

A denial rooted in the flowering bloom of racial hate 

And the verdant lushness of white supremacy's wicked fertility

So many innocent black lives lost 

Because of "Negative Eugenic's" lies and untruths

Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words

Echo inside me - echoing epigenetically

"****** run, ****** die, ****** choose"

Tribal beats are sounding
Inside my head; echoing and pounding
Demanding that I come home
But which way do I go
How do I leave this waste filled battle zone
I am like you
Traversing through the detritus alone

Tribal beats are sounding
Inside my heart; resonating and pounding
Demanding that I come home
But which way do I go
I'm waiting out in the dark alone
Hoping that the Angels will release me
So that I can find my way home peacefully

* Reprinted from 'The Road to Damascus Poems by Mekael'
© November 3, 2008 by Mekael Shane

She sang, as if she knew me beyond my name
Had my eyes revealed my secrets
Had they betrayed my inner joys and pains
...unable to think, I became confused
Could it be that she assumed
Supposed or presumed

How else could she know these things
Maybe it was the stare we shared
That allowed her to see the depths of my dreams

She sung, as if she knew I would not move
Affected by the lyrics she mused
Uncomfortable in my skin I grew
...unable to think, I became confused
Mystified as she sung my truths
She touched my heart, though scarred and bruised

How else could she know these things
Maybe it was the touch we shared
That allowed her to feel the depths of my dreams

Each night I stalk
In measured steps
...on the widow's walk

Hoping that I'll draw nigh
The apportioned thread
...of the soul I bought

* Reprinted from
'Tomorrow Today Poems by Mekael'
© January 1, 2014 by Mekael Shane

I grew up, a fatherless child
And over time, I tried to hide
The hurt and pain, deep inside
…yet, it was in those times of sorrow, I'd hear a voice say
"Come what may, raise your head and keep your eyes toward the skies"

Then one day, my guardian Angel and I
Found the way
And we climbed the mountain high
…once on the summit
With tears in eyes, he turned to me and said
"Spread your wings my son, it's time for you to fly"

Arrogantly
We fight over
…pieces of the earth
Ravenously
As if driven by
…blood thirst

We beasts, we stir
We ****, we pillage
…her aquifer
We dishonor creation
When we act like
…we weren't born from her

* Reprinted from 'My Hajj A Collection of Poems by Mekael'
© September 16, 2011 by Mekael Shane

Who is she
To clothe herself
…with light
And wear it, as if it were a garment

Who is she
To make the Angels sing
…with joy
And melody, synthed in perfect harmony

Who is she
To make me believe
…in things
I feel, but cannot see

Who is she
To open up and separate the skies
…to part deep, ancient waters
As if she's the myth alive

* Reprinted from 'Tomorrow Today Poems by Mekael'
© January 1, 2014 Mekael Shane