"yoyo" poems
by Desmond Makatu,
Your visits are unpredictable.
like a ghost, you're invisible.
The attacks are inevitable.
You come like a thief at night.
You seize me day and night.
"Epilepsy: an inevitable thief"
Cruelty unrestricted to age.
Victimising even toddlers.
Unrestricted to ethnic groups.
My life has time gaps.
Gaps, like discrete graphs.
Cracks depict thin line between life and death.
Grace bridges the gaps and life prevails over death.
Seizures still haunt me like a demonic wrath.
"Epilepsy: an inevitable thief"
Attacks are brief, bruises lasts forever.
You offer questions only God can answer.
Quest for answers is like probing for cure of Cancer.
Death seemed to be the answer but God thought otherwise.
First seizure shook like multiple earthquakes.
Followed by a pool of darkness.
woke up confused, crowd's ****** expressions said a thousand words.
Migraines raided my head, exposed to enormous pressure.
Officially baptised by wrath of seizures.
"Epilepsy: an inevitable thief"
You're a physical and psychological culprit.
Like a Yoyo, you take me into a roller-coaster of emotions.
Aftermaths of your theft are etched in my mind as if they’re on stones.
Behind my “poker face” lies devastating pains than physicals seen by the crowd.
"Epilepsy: an inevitable thief"
Watch video on YouTube. https://youtu.be/VggXerYLOHY
Sep 16, 2017
Sep 16, 2017 at 8:02 PM UTC
Tumatalbog-talbog
sa sahig ng aking mga ala-ala
ang bola ng jackstone ng até
at sipang tingga ng kuya
paroo’t parito
ang mga trumpo’t yoyo
sa mga tumpok
ng inipong alabok
ng kabataan kong
inihian ng kahapon
upang maging kalamay
at putu-putuhan
- na waring napanis na
sa paminggalan ng kompyuter
at tuluyang ibinaon
sa puntod ng mga cellphone.
Sa kamposanto ng mga ala-ala
nagmumulto pa rin ang kahirapan
di na kailanman matatakasan
sa bawat lagok,
mainit na humahagod
sa lalamunan ang mga tagpo
sa mga dula’t pelikula
sa pinagpugarang bahay
na ngayo’y nagiba na:
pagkatapos ng maghapon:
itutulak mo ang kaning mahalimuyak
- isinaing ng Inay ang kinandang-laon
inutang pa sa taga-Quezon
wala kahit kapirasong tuyong maisabay
walang iba, tanging ikaw,
masarap nang sawsawan at sabaw.
Oct 4, 2017
Oct 4, 2017 at 1:40 AM UTC
A yoyo in his hand,
Wrist covered with a band,
Sitting silently under a willow,
He gazed at the leaves yellow.
His past memories invavded his heart,
So viscous they were like a black ****
He longed for his mother to be with him,
All these made his face to fill with grim.
Pain strucked his heart much violently,
But he cried his pain sitting there silently.
He looked around at the trees tall,
They too were suffering the season of Fall.
The path to the willow he sat under,
It was so damaged as if hit by the thunder.
But then he was pleased at the sight looking silently,
The Falling leaves hiding the path so quietly.
Dec 31, 2013
Dec 31, 2013 at 5:59 AM UTC
Packing and unpacking
Everything you own and know,
Just to survive juggling three households in a week.
You come home to your own room,
Fall asleep on your own bed
Then wake up feeling like a stranger in a motel.
Wake up to get up to pack some more,
For another trip to who knows where.
All you know is that it's a balancing act;
This yoyo motion keeps you running somehow,
This is your life now.
What a struggle it is to keep sanity intact,
You bend over backwards to keep it all together.
As you look at your luggage
With ******* on a twist
And a pounding headache,
You think to yourself...what a glorious mess!
Where's permanence when you need it ******
Dec 19, 2011
Dec 19, 2011 at 11:46 AM UTC
"Unbreakable"
Times like this, I wish I never existed
Nobody wants to listen
I'm screaming out for help
Times like this, I wish that I could let go
And open up a window, free to be myself
But then there's you
Standing over me, tryna make a fool of me
Tryna get the best of me
Oh, then there's you
Tryna shut me out, tryna kick me when I'm down
That ain't gonna stop me now, no
How does it feel to know that I don't care at all?
Your words don't mean a thing at all
I chose to rise, you chose to fall
How does it feel to know that I am capable?
Of more than you will ever know
Don't tell me I'm not good enough
Don't you bring me down
I'm moving up and you're over now
You gave me fire
Everytime you came around
My feet are steady on the ground
And you won't knock me down
No more, oho, oho,
Now I'm unbreakable
Oho, oho, oho,
Now I'm unbreakable
Times like this, I'm picking up the pieces
I'm making up the reasons
Not to tell a soul
Times like this, I'd rather speak to no one
I just wanna move on, stand up on my own
But then there's you
Standing over me, tryna make a fool of me
Tryna get the best of me
Oh, then there's you
Tryna shut me out, tryna kick me when I'm down
That ain't gonna stop me now, no
How does it feel to know that I don't care at all?
Your words don't mean a thing at all
I chose to rise, you chose to fall
How does it feel to know that I am capable?
Of more than you will ever know
Don't tell me I'm not good enough
Don't you bring me down
I'm moving up and you're over now
You gave me fire
Everytime you came around
My feet are steady on the ground
And you won't knock me down
No more, oho, oho,
Now I'm unbreakable
Oho, oho, oho,
Now I'm unbreakable
I remember getting tease as a kid
Cause at the place that we lived
We never had it easy, believe me
But that don't excuse the things that we did
Wouldn't accept that I was never accepted
Shed so many tears like I fell in depression
But if I changed, I wouldn't get called names
But it was all the same, I was feeling rejected
Putting someone down that's a low blow
What goes around comes around like a yoyo
Wish that I could stop time like a photo
But we stand strong, bounce back like a pogo
Don't tell me I'm not good enough
Don't you bring me down
I'm moving up and you're over now
You gave me fire
Everytime you came around
My feet are steady on the ground
And you won't knock me down
No more, oho, oho,
Now I'm unbreakable
Oho, oho, oho,
Now I'm unbreakable
May 17, 2019
May 17, 2019 at 8:47 AM UTC
She tells me,
"You're very self aware,
You know what, why and how you do things,
Yet you continue to do them."
I explain to her that I never learned how to ask for help
So I only ever knew how to look to myself for the answer
Which has led me to become pretty creative with metaphors
As well as entertaining internal monologues,
Like when I explained to her that my parents look at me
And see a knot of misfortune
Without looking at all the threads that I'm comprised of
Which led them to this conclusion of me.
She asked me if I ever thought of harming other people
To which I noted that I tend to play fruit-ninja
With peoples faces
In my head.
Though I'd never actually do anything,
Just as I'm able to keep a professional demeanor
Giving no hints to
The constant stream of expletives in my head.
She asks me why I don't feel like I have friends,
Which leads me to disclose
That I can't tell if I work too much
To spend time with friends
Or if I do it to distract from the lack of.
I laugh when I regale her
With how I recently bought a yoyo
Because it is relaxing
And makes me feel like a cool kid
That would be part of the gang in Hey Arnold,
Stating that it's been helping me with my panic attacks
By focusing on making my yoyo
Go around the world,
Pretending it was me,
Circumventing my lack of coping mechanisms.
Iliana looks at me, with her mouth slightly turned down
Attempting to keep a straight face
Though her brows still knit together in slight confusion
As she asks me how I'm able to say all of this with a smile on my face,
"Well," I state, "I don't have time to be depressed."
May 3, 2016
May 3, 2016 at 12:31 AM UTC
*They’re almost gone now a vanishing tribe
Peddlers of fresh sweets honeys from hive
Sellers of fish heads such sundries on head
Toys and bangles and blankets for bed.
Don’t see them around those struggling men
Making the choice of voice trudging the lane
Hoping to sell one piece in dream of gain
Faceless wind ringer in sun’s bite and rain.
Gone are those plaintive cries on summer noon
Raising road’s dust on trail singing the tune
Traders of trinkets girls’ ribbon hairpin
Yoyo and plastic top with endless spin.
Why the times ruined them made them a flop
Sellers travelers with head-full of shop
Sending their song of hope past locked in door
None could now fill that space nothing anymore.*
Mar 20, 2014
Mar 20, 2014 at 7:05 AM UTC
You keep sending me up and down like a yoyo-
But I'm the cheeriest, sunniest yoyo around.
Going down is the best bit by now
Because I know I get to spring back up.
You might find another yoyo eventually,
But none so bright, hardwearing, or smooth running as me!
Aug 27, 2014
Aug 27, 2014 at 7:52 PM UTC
Every night
at 8:49
I tie the rope
a little bit tighter
in hope that
your last breath
squeezes closer
so when I say
‘Ladies and gentlemen’
my charm overrides the sound of
your palms banging on the glass
as you challenge the water from
making you its cadaver
and choke back the salted tears that
seep from your eyes
like the malice that
seeps from mine
reviewers say it’s clear that I
enjoy this trick the most
but it’s hard not to when I know
your lungs are the
consequence
of
a
dripping
tap
until the basin’s full and you reach your final centilitre of conscious breath at 8:56:02.
With one last tug
you escape by :03
unfortunately
but the papers will say it was your
‘most truthful performance yet’
5 Stars to The Water Torture Bell Jar.
See, there’s a reason these seats fill
as fast as your tank,
Irving and Houdini had it figured first:
if you push a body to its limits
and watch it yoyo to the edge of death and
back again night after night
you will always sell out.
There’s more to being a Magician’s Assistant than meets the eye.
Perhaps tomorrow I’ll try a new knot.
Mar 29, 2016
Mar 29, 2016 at 4:00 PM UTC
You had me.
Wrapped around your finger
Like a yo-yo
Hanging and spinning
Desperate to unwind
At your feet.
You let go.
Broken hearts like promises
And silence.
You always did.
Too impatient to undo the knots
That you had tied
Just shy of my chin.
Loose enough to make it slow
But tight enough
to let you win.
Apr 16, 2013
Apr 16, 2013 at 10:39 PM UTC
I'm tired of my heart being a yoyo.
I've tried to tell you that you're my ventilator,
but you're never here.
I'm the type of lover that wants to leave everything else behind,
maybe it's because I'm a sucker for a good sunset.
I just want to live somnolently,
I want to retrace the veins that map your wrist.
I want you to be here.
Apr 21, 2015
Apr 21, 2015 at 11:12 PM UTC
I have an incurable disease
which I call yoyoitis
and the symptoms of it
are that I am happy as a rabbit
for a few days
and then the yoyo goes down
and I'm miserable and low
for a few days
and then up goes the yoyo again
and I'm happy as a rabbit.
It's a big pain in the ****
Jan 11, 2011
Jan 11, 2011 at 9:02 PM UTC
Statement 1.The poem bellow is false
there’s no rush in pushing dreams
one into another and watch them disappear into black holes
like shiny ***** on a Saturday night pool table
no need for hope and fear
to marry again and again and again
lovers can only be parents to one eternal daughter: agony
open your eye
the voices in my head are now quiet
muted by the glowing in the dark yoyo of life
forever ends Tuesday and
it doesn’t matter why
or how or who played in it
the Big Engineer wants us to be grateful
for every dove flying above our heads
for every loaf of bread sliced on the kitchen table
for every mouthful of air allowed in this room
‘Breath in and hold’/ (should I do what I’m told?)
I take in you2 and exhale love dioxide.
Statement 2.The poem above is true
Feb 4, 2013
Feb 4, 2013 at 1:26 PM UTC
Her smile,
*********
It's taking up to much of a file,
She always flips a coin,
And smiles when telling you,
That she found it in Spain,
And calls it her laws of nature,
Then joking refers to a yoyo she named her *** life,
She cuts words like samurai getting ahold of a dinner knife,
But speaks awkwardly everytime,
Tending to tenderness,
Who knows?
But that smile,
*********
It's like a terrible heist movie,
With a plot line that has to do with monks,
And one actor is overpaid,
Knowing that at the end their still made,
What to do besides eat that popcorn and enjoy the show,
That smile though...
Sep 1, 2015
Sep 1, 2015 at 4:13 AM UTC
Jekyl or Hyde
above the belly
on a beer tap
in the ally,
below the waste
goombaya
out of the preachers face,
it's my body Yue!!!
now You!!! tattoo this on on my chest,
permanently
now hidden behind a vest.
gin & tonic
sure don't mean tiger
given to a drunk crit
as an insult from China.
Apr 17, 2023
Apr 17, 2023 at 2:07 PM UTC
And there you were
On my birthday of all days.
Sitting there, as if you were waiting for me to make the first move
Placed in my line of sight as if you were made for me.
You, looking all tempestuous and such.
And I, a person of virtue, a person who prides himself to resist.
But not on this night.
Placed under a spell you cast upon my mind.
Devine intervention would have to occur as I was then, blinded, tied up,
Only to be under your control.
Handcuffing me, to be sickened by the thought of the next day.
I know I should have known better, but my eyes would deceive me that evening.
I thought, I had you wrapped around my finger like a yoyo,
But instead, you turned into a chinese finger trap,
Gripping me to reality of what would soon hit me like a ton of bricks.
That night, you ordered me a screwdriver, and then another, then another and so on
only to drive the ***** directly through my judgement.
The next morning though, when I woke, I realized,
I must have been wearing my beer goggles,
Because, there you were and you were not who I thought you were.
You were in fact
A kind of a
What the ****
Kind of
**** you made me sick,
Kind of
Why did I ever take you home with me,
Kind of
A hang over.
Jun 23, 2013
Jun 23, 2013 at 3:53 AM UTC
And when your world is feeling so low,
Think of a few things written below.
For each life lived, there is a yin and a yang,
And for each moon that’s cried, a sun has sang.
As storm clouds roll, natures fireworks show,
In muddy water, a lotus flower will grow,
After the hardest climb, you will see the best views,
And try to climb sometimes, in another ones shoes.
When darkness descends, the stars start to twinkle,
And for each new wisdom, maybe one more wrinkle.
Behind each grey cloud, the sun still shines
After a volcanic diatreme, come the diamond mines
In the depths of the ocean, a coral garden blooms,
Venus’s jealousy stained the lilys perfumes.
Inside a rust mound precious gold appears
And a deep freeze will bring snowflake tears.
It’s a yoyo life, with darkness and light,
Through each short day and each long night,
Apr 15, 2015
Apr 15, 2015 at 4:31 AM UTC
Braided dreams
Wrapped desires
Layered hopes
Dependent together
Holding hands
We, are
I am
Completed worth
Hallowed vows
Eternal souls
Timeless tears
Unconditional love
Ultimate fears
Searing anxiety
Feelings soaring
Emotional yoyo
Cheating heart
Flagged notes
Conversations made
Outside influences
Preying inside
Tainted advice
Showing colors
Breaking mates
Friends betray
Not real
Agendas abound
Seductive lies
Hidden words
Aug 7, 2014
Aug 7, 2014 at 6:53 AM UTC
One moment I am high
with the light of soulfulness within.
The next I am down
in the clutch of desire
and enticements.
May 14, 2022
May 14, 2022 at 9:40 AM UTC
Feel for the lowly yoyo
Bouncing across a tennis court
Propelled by the racket’s action
Pulled back by the yoyo’s string
A word or a phrase would do him
To give him hope or loss
No matter which direction
He hears the racket’s ping
A lowly yoyo has no life
Made of wood and cloth
A string that breaks too easily
If action would only bring
A happy ending to the yoyo
That never asks for more
Then riding on the current
Of love’s golden wing
Take care of the lowly yoyo
Keep him close to your heart
Never forget the lowly yoyo
For true love he will sing
8/22/18
Nov 18, 2018
Nov 18, 2018 at 11:56 AM UTC
gallery: all these options exploding before me, but none appealing enough to the man in charge of unclothing the corneas of my eyes. the portraits upon these walls scream at me, "choose I!" however, I've always been indecisive, and not favoritism friendly.
echoes: voices retreating to the corners of the cave in my brain, redundancy being its only capability. I've heard this before; I understand where you're coming from; but do you even acknowledge my perspective? being trapped inside this darkness, with your words shoveling themselves into my ears-- I'm bleeding; but the stream of red running from my lobes isn't visible, we only see black here.
yoyo: this string only goes up or down, and its in constant motion to maintain function. doesn't it get tired? sure, you might be entertained, but have you stopped to think what the ware you're tearing will do to it? persistent in unraveling me with no intention of fraying my thin string, but consequences result-- and its no one's fault, everything breaks eventually.
Apr 11, 2015
Apr 11, 2015 at 9:16 PM UTC
A stinging sensation
Similar to that of a bunch ats having their way with you
A burning unscramble itch
Simlar to that of a couple bee stings
The uncontrollable feeling of anger
Like acid meet metal
Fumes and bubbles
Smoke everywhere
Ready to ignite watever comes close
This burning hot feeling
This uncontrollable yearning for something that someone has
Could it be?
An ordinary morning
Noise everywhere
Not wanting to get out of bed
An errie feeling crept up to me
Like a sense of dejavu
Telling to stay down
Dont get up
It felt like a thousand bugs
Crawling under my skin
Wat i opened my eyes to
Is this the reason why u shouldn't check your phone in the mrng?
Could this feeling be wat i think?
Wait.....it could be it
But why
I hve no reason to be
We never had anything to begin with
Then why does my heart feel like this
Like a rag doll..... bound in twine
Untill the thread is almost cutting in
Then like a yoyo
Thrown around only to come back to the thrower to be thrown again
Like a soccer ball being passed around teammates
Only for the striker to give it a more powerful kick
Every second i looked
The string got tighter
And as i closed my eyes in thought
I could taste blood in my mouth
What irony
My head laughed
But only the sound of gritting teeth could be heard
As i endured the tugs froms my hrt
Yes this was it
Its the conclusion i came to
Yes indeed
It was jealous
Sep 24, 2021
Sep 24, 2021 at 4:52 AM UTC
A yoyo in his hand,
Wrist covered with a band,
Sitting silently under a willow,
He gazed at the leaves yellow.
His past memories invavded his heart,
So viscous they were like a black ****
He longed for his mother to be with him,
All these made his face to fill with grim.
Pain strucked his heart much violently,
But he cried his pain sitting there silently.
He looked around at the trees tall,
They too were suffering the season of Fall.
The path to the willow he sat under,
It was so damaged as if hit by the thunder.
But then he was pleased at the sight looking silently,
The Falling leaves hiding the path so quietly.
Sep 7, 2013
Sep 7, 2013 at 11:03 PM UTC
You look at me like you're dreaming.
Like I'm your personal Jesus.
Like I've been sent to begin you,
to start you again.
You look at me like I'm a ray of sun,
like you've never seen something so
transcendental.
Like, 'I could die right now.'
Why?
Why am I that to you?
How can I be that to you?
I'm not that.
I'm pretty, but not Natalie Portman,
smart, but not Stephen Hawking,
kind, but not Mother Theresa,
talented, but not YoYo Ma.
So why are you looking at me like that?
Quit looking at me like that.
Dec 2, 2013
Dec 2, 2013 at 7:48 PM UTC