Faces in the crowd
Some carry the bug
They’re marching towards me
I draw imaginary faces
on their masks
The uncertainty of my existence
bounces around the air
in their droplets
I am with them
but alone
I’m safer at home
but I want to truly live
staring death in the face
behind my mask
By Thomas Agbonyitor
It’s the strangest dream
living in this black body
staring at my dark skin
laying in bed
in the TV glow of night
I wonder
Why am I hated for this?
It’s just melanin
It’s just skin
I know that
looking through my eyes from within
What do they see
when they look at me?
Should I wash my black off
so I can be free?
I am not safe
not even at home
The cops can bust into my home
with a no knock warrant
They can kneel on my neck
They can shoot me in the chest
or my back
My being is constantly under attack
because I’m black
Programmed with hate
They see black and see enemy
They see threat
They don’t know
I just want to live, laugh, love
Oppression weighs on my chest
as it heaves trying to sleep
My thoughts racing
with all these causes to defeat
Racism feels like everything
Then I have my epiphany
They can pepper me with spray
Tear me with gas
Pierce me with bullets
or drown me in the sea
They can do whatever they want to me
But they cannot kill my inner being
They cannot kill a soul who dreams
By Thomas Agbonyitor
I’ve always existed,
part of the Universe,
a ripple in the pond of time.
We are all God.
We just must assert our godliness.
The same energy flows through all of us.
Somehow, we must live
this bodily experience
though we are spirits by nature.
Therein lies the conflict:
We were born to die.
Yet, we are immortal.
by Thomas Agbonyitor
I know a man who’s an island
I’m floating right here
In an empty sea of frost bitten darkness
Never touched
A black hole
Sucking in space
Destroying stars around me
What’s the theory of relativity
When boomerangs don’t come back?
I’d love to play catch
But people can’t throw
Or no one wants to throw to me
Or catch
Feelings are the devil
Never understood
They swirl in a caldron of pain
That is my entity
Paint me a picture
Write me a symphony
They all come out the same
Lame
Say you understand
But we could never feel the same
Probably because I’m insane
Writing/Writhing in pain
With no one to blame
If you could feel me
I probably wouldn’t like that
I’m Mona Lisa
Not smiling
On the Louvre wall
Don’t touch of the art!
We long to capture the beauty
To be the admirer, painter and subject
All at once
Would be divine
Running through and out of
Space and time
Everything is sublime
Except me
Wherefore art thou Juliet?
I long for the day we met
And lay in serene serendipity
Living forever
Neither swallowing poison
Nor feuding
Musings from my muse
Would be salvation
As Salvator Mundi
Through excavation
I finally see
Me
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Jesus Christ is God
He has many believers
No one has seen him
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Ode to Stopping by Woods On a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
I walked the winter street.
I inhaled oxygen
and exhaled relief.
My soul ran out of breath.
The moon and the cold night air
gave me CPR.
The moist air
cuddled me like a blanket.
It quelled my insecurities.
It was therapy for my fears.
Will I make it?
Time will tell.
Oh, the certainty and fairness of time!
For, now I work.
Love is my labor.
My passions run deep
I’m in charge of the rhythm of the night.
I keep the heartbeat of the streets.
I long for the day
to walk not this trail,
but a path in step with the Lord,
on my own accord,
a fully realized me.
These woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But, I have to fulfill my dreams.
And miles before I finally breathe,
And miles before I finally breathe.
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Captivated by the music
I enjoyed a happy space
Graced by the presence of her
I still felt alone but comfortable
My brother gave me a great word
I felt peace
It all seemed to coincide
at this moment
When I Iooked out at the water
I didn’t know where
one wave ended
and one began
On a ride against the tide
I felt an ocean of emotions
I searched across the water
feeling the beat
searching for my place in all this
I was just as confused
and jumbled
as the partygoers dancing madly
Entering each other’s spaces
and leaving just as quickly
I felt the urge to dance
and put down my pen
I took my lady by the hand
and said, “Let’s dance”
I will be eternally grateful
that I didn’t sit it out
By Thomas Agbonyitor
Strong.
Beautiful.
Black.
Free.
We are nothing without you.
You are nothing without me.
We.
The Universe placed us here
with melanin in our skin.
Mother, sister, wife, daughter, kin;
All contained within.
The chalice.
Your hips and thighs
widen eyes
that seek pleasure.
Men of all kinds,
erect buildings
for your buried treasure.
Even hope could not measure
the desire for you.
You are more than your
honey dips,
buttocks,
breasts,
and thighs.
Your eyes reveal secrets
lost in time,
of when nature was prime.
I see the Universe
in your irises.
Your pupils are surrounded
by star-lit galaxies.
You bend space and time
when I marvel at your beauty.
Mother nature weeps when you cry.
Some time back,
white man
raped you,
whipped you,
killed you,
and stole your baby.
We watched.
We cried.
We apologized.
We fought.
Some of us died.
All of us died,
inside.
We were from separate lands,
Distinguished by color.
White man started hatred for us
out of jealousy.
500 years of slavery,
and, here we are.
Somewhat wiser,
but never healed.
Oh! To go back to our ancestor’s field
and blow up the colonizer’s ship
and set them on fire!
That would be my greatest desire.
But time doesn’t travel back.
So, all I can do is
hold,
love,
cherish,
you.
Wipe away your tears.
Assuage your fears.
And, keep you near.
And, never let anyone run away with you,
again.
Light and peace
Pure clouds
Rarefied air
Those who dared love Him
are home
Will never be alone
want
or need
As Adam’s successors
we succeeded
and exceeded
great expectations
Love and hate
We chose the former
Guards at Heaven’s gate
keep out the latter
Anything no longer matters
We are safe
to hug
kiss
laugh
No longer embodied
our spirits interact without fear
The end no longer draws near
Time’s blade dissipated
There is nothing to be anticipated
for the culmination of existence is here
Forever with and of God
Joined in spirit
until we redescend to earth
No more labor at Kingdom’s birth
We walk blissfully
enjoying all fruits
with none excluded
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