Crispy paper
Brittle pen
Where to start
Where to begin
Grain of gold
On blue ink bend
Sell for mold
A shackled stench.
Taking racks
Of ruby trays
Alas of now
Good coming day
Shortened phase
Scratched in dye
The color crimson
Of poesys side.

If you take your life
I take mine too,
Because a life here on earth
isn't worth losing you.

She hates the city
Say street lamps
Are too cold
For marshmallows,
Too far apart
For hammocks
And a little too yellow
For stars.

She loves daisies
Especially when they're alive
And drinks sunshine
Like it's a fireball
Bottle at a bachelor party

She
Has got a body.
Like a Lego fire walk
That I can't help but
Move across
Slowly,

On the parts of her
Past that build us
Omnicolored castles
Of Kings and Queens
And treasure chests
Too small to hold anything
Outside our own imagination

And I,
Her ready loyal Knight
With nothing but
A dull promise
On the edge of my tongue
Laying my rusty faith
At her feet keep

Moving
Like my eyes
Across a line
Across a line
Across a line
That I never
Want to stop
Reading

Her edges
With my fingertips
Like the map
To my home
And her lips
The closest thing
I've got to
A key

But she
Is not the type
That needs a night
To see the stars

And I
Am not the type
To write poems
From fireflies
That I never learned
To let go

'Cause I know my life
Has seen enough jars
Of my amputated parts
To know you don't have
To be broken to be used
To picking up the pieces.

But baby break me.
Like a firefighter
With a family of four
Who knows the risks.
With your arms
'Round my fists
The only chance I've got
Of making it out alive.

So baby hold me
Like a papier mâché
Tugboat from articles
Of my past that I no longer
Want to pull.

And my plaster heart
Heavy,
Ready to be made
Into something new

With my hands full of skipping stones
I no longer have the stomach read
'Cause I don't wanna leave her life
Without being buried somewhere beneath.
But I don't wanna dig too deep
Before I figure out just how to breathe.

So every time she leaves,

I wear my teeth
On her scent
Ribs bent
In the direction
Of her return.

For the first time
In a long while
I've got a fire in me.
And this time,

I'm gonna let it burn.

Like a lioness, you fought your house to keep
And swift as deer, you ran ahead of time
Fearing neither the Western rifles nor barriers of the African culture
Setting your eyes on victory, you left behind the cooking role
Refusing to be betrayed by coward men leaders
Angered by colonial disrespect and maltreatment,
Your love for Asanteland and pride was greater than gender
The brave feminist of Africa, whose fights preceded Beijing
Yaa Asantewaa,  the shoes you left behind are too big to fill
But like you, we'd dare, our nation to defend
And our people we'd love enough to die for.
Yaa Asantewaa, like you we will step to fight, though without guns
Our brains, hearts and skills the point would prove, that we're descendants of thine
Gone with your body but in us, your nature lives on
We'd fight beyond Seychelles and return our land to rule.

Come play with me
         over the hills'
verdant delight
        where the sun often shines
and dark is bright
        Come take my hand
as we go under the bridge
           where the fairies glow
on the pine-scented ridge
        Let's run through the river  
and feel its flow
            as we swim naked
and the moon shines low
Run with me
         let the winds lick
                           us dry  
Let's raise our heads
                         in laughter
allow ourselves to cry
I am here for you
       through storms and hail
I won’t give up
on you
when your tempests
rage and wail
We are one in each other
              No way to reverse
even when running free
                             alone
Your script is in
                      my verse
So come, follow me
             into the wilderness              
Let's get lost there,
                   deep inside
Let's caress each other's wounds
dark secrets tell
                 with pride
You can take my tears upon
your tongue
     and I can press your palms
onto my heart
as we feel the pulse
of silent heat
that will scintillate
our
     dark

Can you feel it
The venom flowing in
Your blood
It's darker than
The darkest shade of nights,
You have seen.

Can you feel it
The guilt infiltrating your thoughts
Faster than
The snow dissipating
on a child's palm

Can you feel it,
A feeling of hopelessness
Taking over
Like a nausea
You could not fight

Can you feel yourself dying
A little more inside
And becoming the monster
Your mother always
Warned you about?

Write one line at a time.
Don't stress.
You'll come back with better ideas.
Or maybe sometimes,
it is best to leave