Must we only dream
   of wise kings who know
that rivers must flow
   peacefully
so a woman can sing
   her children to sleep
and fathers not weep
   holding them
in grief too heartbroken
   to rage
at the violence men bring
    in this age
that should be long left
   behind us?

where night is black opals
before the storm.

out of the flames,
pheonix bright,
our love,
reawoken,
tender and ageless,
*****-faced like
a jaguar of the night,
purple, blue and yellow
the bloodless fire,
and somewhere in
the hurt and the pain
the ghosts like an
old sinatra song
sing their melodies
in the sad summer hours.
i don't think i'll
ever feel so bruised
or so dark, our love
out of those blue-ghost
flames.

Uncomfortable within this skin.
My joints complain
and muscles scream.

But people say, "It's normal.
It's more common than you think."

My mind in shambles.
Ideas incoherent
and thought processes
sluggish at best.

But people say, "It's normal.
It's more common than you think."

My emotions are in
total disarray.
I'm not happy
yet I'm not anything at all.

But people say, "It's normal.
It's more common than you think."

My insides twisting,
splitting.
Every grain and fibre
set on fire.

But people say, "It's normal.
It's more common than you think."

If this is normal,
I'm petrified with
the prospect of
what isn't.

Metallic truth become tubeless
Cervical test fail
Notion burn still bluish flare stainless
Gazellic gush of whistling bell rings

Unpatriotic fellow placard raise
Today enough is enough fair broad
Burrowing in as flowers see reddish stained
It is the path of injustice

Heavy metallic fire spread
Everything turn a dark cloud
Running slain water flow
Victims displaced by bullets of mad few

by
Martin Ijir

What's to become of us
when all that we've coveted
is emptied of all value

What's to become of us
when the words we traded
seem to have lost their meaning

What's to become of us
when common ideals
turn to conflict

What's to become of us
when all that has been invested
gets swallowed by doubt and mistrust

What's to become of us
when we stand so close
yet between our hearts lies a lie