The poem below is a slam poem I’ve written in honour of the new blog of created. It is a poem made to be performed due to sound devices and the rhythm within the piece (caused by the cacophony/ euphony of the words I’ve chosen.) I have to admit that this poem is a bit of a mess since it jumps from one idea to the next – YET THERE IS A PURPOSE TO THIS!! Since the title is “unfinished business”, I tried to make each phrase end on a note that isn’t wholly complete – almost stimulating a cliffhanger. Often times, I feel as if the chapters of my life never truly close, wounds never heal, bodies never go cold. To express this, ” unsettled business” began to muse within my heart and out poured a series of short poems I attempted to piece together. The poem ends on a note of
I’ve been massaging the knots in my tongue,
trying to figure out a way to say
what is clogged up in my brain
without bleeding out
and choking on the clots
of all my built up thoughts.
unsettled business.
Joan of Arc’s blood
trickles from my lips
and arms
filling in the creases
of my palms,
leaving hand-prints on paper
lanterns and silk dresses
draped on glass
mannequins
abandoned in dark corridors,
skin smeared by seducers;
shadows shaped like saints.
unsettled business.
I sit in the director’s chair,
hair coiled like snakes,
aimed towards the scene
frozen in the midst of
sensation, a string of tension
around my neck and
fingers –
married to mayhem and
metaphors.
unsettled business.
Chasing stability
,constantly
missing moments of tranquility,
fighting fragility:
nooses made of memory,
throat choked by
ghosts-
virility.
unsettled business.
I got lost in the road map
creases of his palms,
and the stromatic streets
of his irises,
and the bar needle,
compass cracks of his lips,
and as I looked for shelter,
I found myself walking
in circles;
wrapped around
his finger.
unsettled business.
I hold my pencil in
the air like a cigarette:
breathing in the
poisonous lead and
breathing out a years’ worth
of pain-
“God, it’s hard to quit,”
as ink starts to
dribble down
my chin.
unsettled business.
lighthouse moon in a sea of clouds
take me home in your
embrace,
take me from this place that God
has abandoned,
and left for me to
judge.
unsettled business.
feature image: 1465ub. “Candle Flame GIF – Candle Flame Flickering – Discover & Share GIFs.” Tenor, Tenor, 4 Dec. 2016, tenor.com/view/candle-flame-flickering-gif-7317336.
