floweht

The Sun


pales and moves
Throughout the seasons
But in Egypt
It was endless.

It began with a divine conception -
pharoahs obsessed with immortality,
building pyramids of permanence
in the desert;
expendable slaves
charged with the impossible task
of bridging the gap between
divinity and humanity,
sequestered
to build steeples
gleaming in the desert horizon

Impenetrable moats
Guarded by Nile crocodiles
The Egyptians were reprobate
Veterans in the global rule
In the sands of time
Perpetually sustaining
An empire while reaching onward
In a cosmic dance

Prolific feats are finished
in two decades:
colossal columns of carnage
monumental masterpieces of manpower
survive millenia
angled toward immortality
A reign of conquest, construction,
and columns carved with pictorial reliefs.

Obelisks and Sphinxes
are tombs of trickery:
ruses for the robbers
seeking to steal glory from the grave

Funereal amenities for the afterlife
full of Nubian gold
and precious gems found centuries later,
a muse of manifest destiny
tributes to Osiris

Double lives wheeling
and dealing,
hurting and hustling
all in the name of a good time,
from your first 'high' to the last.

We mourn celebrities and family's
passing from drugs and alcohol
and wonder...
is it a choice to use and abuse?

Psychoactive drugs limit
depression, inhibit mania
while government controlled
watchdogs
become the new street pimps.

I support
a woman's right to choose...
to choose whether or not
to shave her armpits
and legs, that is.

This is my hairy manifesto!
Down with razors, I say...
Just Say No! Let it Grow,
Let it Show!

I was epic during the Civil War.

Aunt Jemimah is an effigy of me,

A do-rag pulled tight

Over hair like Brillo, needing cream.

I have changed from an

African American anti-slavery icon

To a black maid that serves syrup,

My coffee colored skin buttery

Like the tops of pancakes,

My iconic face now

Glazed on plastic bottles.

I got caught speeding in

Portland after this girl

Begged me to bring her.

Suddenly lights blinded me;

I was being pulled over

Without a license.

My mind raced and my heart pumped

With adrenaline and anxiety;

This favor suddenly lent to a

Hellish ride beyond imagination.

I thought, “If I can stay out of jail,

It’s worth it, right?”

So I gave a fake name and

date of birth and beat jail.

Pin Up

A boy, ravenous with childhood hunger,

Beats the odds and one day becomes

A male model.

Perhaps starving associated his muscles

Down to sinew, it was not problematic

For him to develop a sex pack,

Emulating the same blank stare

From his youth.

Commercialism makes him

stand naked except for

Calvin Klein underwear in Times Square.

He should have painted on his pectorals:

“Will work for food”

am a writer

Weaving in and out of

The intricate pathways

of social media.

I am a culture spy, a trend seeker,

a modern day hunter and gatherer

of the internet

buried as a sailor bouncing

from underwater hub to hub

viewing the world

through a tiny periscope.

I once saw an angel
It hung from a 9’
Cathedral ceiling,
And seemed to take
Up all that space,
From ceiling to where I sat.

It was both profound
And deeply disturbing –
Armed with vast wings that
Glowed like a corona of
Intense sunshine,
Surrounded by a fiery aura
I could not bear to look away.

This was the highest angel
In the hierarchy of heaven,
A messenger determined
To make me leave this place
As it was armed with heavy
Weaponry – an angelic sword
And bereft of emotion.
I was convinced it was the same angel
That escorted Adam and Eve
From Eden.

When it started to dematerialize,
I still could not look away
Wondering if it could read my mind,
This androgynous celestial being.
If only it would answer my questions:
“Who sent you?” “Why are you here?”
but the imagery spoke for itself.

Like the sun, when you look away
After looking directly at it for a moment,
It left indelible prints on my cornea,
A sort of afterburn as it departed.

It is lovely to be remembered, and another to quite simply, be loved in friendship.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday, EF. From Gaea