Holding my breath
submerged beneath the ocean
I blew bubbles to the surface
and swam to the top
I treaded water there
surrounded by everything and nothing
I felt God’s presence
in the awesome calmness of the water
and in my breath
that I could see in the cold air
Suddenly
I saw a shark swimming towards me
I swam to the safety of the boat
Catching my breath on the floor
salt water dripping from my limbs
Nothing lasts forever
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Light chiming in the air
A rose garden
Birds singing
We sat on the tree trunk
holding each other there
I exhaled
from deep inside my soul
I felt whole
Complete
From yearnings in the deep
This was enchanted
The silence was so sweet
Her heartbeat
against mine
I knew I had found
my other
I loved her
and would never let go
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Life breeds pain
Struggle is its essence
God expelled us from the garden
to toil the earth
Women must feel pain at birth
We wake up to study, work and chore
Most of of it seems a bore
Sleep is a Godsend
Some of life’s greatest moments
happen while dreaming
But every now and then
we live our dreams while awake
We take a flight to a beach
and galavant on the shore
We dance the night away
with a beautiful girl or boy
Sometimes joy is just
laying on a couch
watching a show
Or diving into a slice of pizza
or an ice cream cone
The height of heights
is the touch of a significant other
that you longed for
Joy can just be the hope
of so much more
because we don’t know what’s in store
I think the greatest joy would be
to get the answer to the great questions
and see God’s face
Then finally we might feel
we’ve found our place
By Thomas Agbonyitor
She walked in beauty
Darkness enveloped her
Light sparkled from her heights
Her face shone on me
I fell in love with her
She was the night
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Savagery surrounded me.
In a den of fierce lions, I was home.
Not alone, He was with me.
Snarling teeth, sharp claws, roars.
I was the toast and the main course.
They hated me for my righteousness.
Some named me demon.
But everyone felt me
some type of way.
I could not fight or flee.
That choice was taken from me
so God carried me away.
He delivered me from the snares
of torturous death to salvation,
all because I lived as a child of God
and the blame was not mine to carry.
Painting by
Sir Peter Paul Rubens
Daniel in the Lions’ Den
Flemish 1577-1640
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Born with a rebel yell
I emerged upon the scene
Silence quelled the spirits
He was a special child
Reflecting on times of yore
My innocence was taken for granted
My unbridled passion moved me
to the forest
to the field
to the sea
I smelled like outside
When I discovered full showers
I discovered women
Watching movies
And drinking OJ
were the only aphrodisiacs I needed
I discover women still
With every page I turn
I see myself
Now I worry about money and bills
I miss the thrill of a long night out
that never became tomorrow
At tomorrow’s end
I long for the days of
yesterday’s presence
and the perfection of today’s existence
but am filled with sorrow
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Jump in the car and let’s float.
My vessel was a ferry boat
to sin sensation.
With you riding shotgun,
the sun was around at night.
It reflected off the moon
as it glowed on us.
The kaleidoscope in my mind
of these women riding around with me
is ghostly.
Now that these seats are empty,
I solemnly reflect on times past,
bad chicks twerking in the backseat
with no gas.
I was a king amongst men, searching
for the perfect woman,
searching for the one to be
my ride or die.
Lollygagging and galavanting
are pure joy in the summer.
Sweat dripping from our bodies
as we ride with the windows down,
playing our favorite song.
I was told not to love too easy,
but failed almost every time.
At least while riding shotgun,
they were mine.
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Born of blood and pain
Savagery was the game
Pack animals
Wolves on the hunt
Huddled in tribes
Dancing to our native rhythms
We hungered for more
Searching for God in nature
But our nature was godliness
We planted
We cultivated
We built
We dressed up in fine cloths
We made machines more powerful than us
We became slaves to the money we made
All the while yearning
For a return to the watering hole
To a spear
To flesh
To blood
A rebel yell from the soul
A primitive scream
Murder, death, kill
A nightmare made real
Since the beginning of time
We’ve raped and pillaged
The Spartans threw weak babies off cliffs
Men do not know the definition of peace
We made love to our women
With unbridled passion
The fire that burns for them
Is unquenchable
Our aggression in bed
Is evidence of God’s true savagery
Therein lies the secret
God is holy
But he also made the devil
Everything comes from Him
Including the savagery of it all
We were made in His image
So to be savage is to be God
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Lost in a world of nothingness
Delusions trap my mind
Drowning in a sea of internal tears
I can’t swim to the surface
I choke on my own saltwater
I spit up blood
It envelopes me like a flame
Now I’m swimming in a red ocean of blues
The blood, thick with poison
Serenades me
It cradles me to sleep
I dream of a dew dripped,
sun kissed meadow, hereafter
But wake up drowning.
By Thomas Agbonyitor
There is no power in Blackness
There is only power in you and me
Blackness is not real
White men made it to keep us in chains
Igbo, Yoruba, Ewe
Our tribes are our identities
The Atlantic Ocean washed us into one blood
So now here we are
Joined in color
A shared history
of overcoming adversity
MLK
Malcolm X
Harriet Tubman
The list goes on
of individuals putting us on
Imagine one million MLKs
marching on the mall
Or one million Harriet Tubmans
freeing themselves
Nowadays with Google and hard work
you can free yourself
So, why aren’t we free?
By Thomas Agbonyitor
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