#theblackpoets

[the-original-b]

Tag Game for Poets and the Poetically Inclined

I was tagged by the wonderful @simply-eno

1. A poem that tends to pop into your mind

I We are the hollow men We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when  We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass or rats' feet over broken glass In our dry cellar Shape without form, shade without colour,  Paralysed force, gesture without motion; Those who have crossed With direct eyes, to death's other kingdom  Remember us - if at all - not as lost Violent souls, but only As the hollow men  The stuffed men.  II Eyes I dare not meet in dreams In death's dream kingdom These do not appear:  There, the eyes are Sunlight on a broken column  There, is a tree swinging And voices are  In the wind's singing  More distant and more solemn  Than a fading star. Let me be no nearer In death's dream kingdom  Let me also wear Such deliberate disguises Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves In a field Behaving as the wind behaves No nearer -  Not that final meeting  In the twilight kingdom III This is the dead land This is cactus land Here the stone images Are raised, here they receive The supplication of a dead man's hand Under the twinkle of a fading star. Is it like this In death's other kingdom  Waking alone At the hour when we are Trembling with tenderness Lips that would kiss Form prayers to broken stone. IV The eyes are not here There are no eyes here In this valley of dying stars In this hollow valley This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms In this last of meeting places  We grope together And avoid speech Gathered on this beach of this tumid river Sightless, unless The eyes reappear As the perpetual star Multifoliate rose Of death's twilight kingdom The hope only Of empty men. V Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o'clock in the morning.  Between the idea And the reality Between the motion  And the act Falls the Shadow                     For Thine is the Kingdom Between the conception And the creation  Between the emotion  And the response Falls the Shadow                     Life is very long Between the desire And the spasm  Between the potency And the existence Between the essence And the descent Falls the Shadow                     For Thine is the Kingdom For Thine is Life is For Thine is the This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but with a whimper.

The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot.

2. One line in a song

A shaft of light is all I need, to cease the darkness killing me.

Shiro Sagisu - Who Will Know

3. One line in a movie

Any man who must say "I am the king" is no true king.

Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister (Game of Thrones S3E10) I know it isn't strictly speaking a movie, but it's still a great line.

4. A word you'll avoid for fear of over-usage

Amazing. Overuse cheapens the word.

5. One word that is you, metaphorically (no explanation)

Still.

I am tagging: @teaspirationss @hauntedfutures @themagicinmypen @theblackpoets @mortalghost and anybody else who wants to share

I'll even open this to those among you who don't call yourselves poets or poetically inclined. Enjoy..!

[darlinngninawrites]

When the world was shut down we had been struggling to stay alive fighting other demons. Behind us mountains were collapsing. Beneath the ground an impending rumbling. The owners of everything hovering over the skies with arms stretched wide and their feet above ground leaving little air.

For the rest of us, the lot of us.

Your mother had been thinking of retiring from the job where all her youth had been spent and the look on her face was something you had been avoiding. Notwithstanding the distance, you had avoided her face for the last 20 years really.

Who is she now? The weakened shell of the woman who kissed your forehead at dawn before parting to give away her hours to a faceless gaffer. Hoarding stares in public transit, storing tears in private bathrooms.

The body swallows years for so long without flinching until suddenly the back gives in. Your mother is shorter now. You can hold her in your chest like an amulet.

Will god ever hear me? The master’s foot drowns out my cries.

I don’t want to dismantle his house anymore. I just want to sleep.

Next time, when the world is shut down again, maybe it won’t be as noisy. I hope to not be shaken in the cold dark soil beneath you.

[theblackpoets]

Nayyirah Waheed

[auricbliss]

“Too Black”

Ha! I’m “too” what, you say?

“Too loud,”

“Too obnoxious,”

“Too in the way”?

My hair is “too kinky,”

I “show too much skin,”

But honey,

I’m unashamed of my melanin.

“Oh, if black lives matter,

then why not blue?”

Well, Becky,

you’d be mad too

if police were shooting you

for reaching for the ID that they asked for

or simply walking home from the convenience store.

So, Becky,

don’t ask me why I’m causing an uproar.

Ooh, you see my “angry black woman” coming out!

You’re confused,

You say there’s nothing to be mad about –

Basic. Human. Rights.

You’d think we’d have them by now

but we’re still in this fight,

still in the tunnel slowly approaching the light,

moving away from oppression until it is out of sight.

But, in the meantime,

I think I’ll continue to be “too loud,”

“Too obnoxious,”

“Too in the way.”

I love my angry black woman,

and she’s here to stay.

- Riel Felice

[leftiswhatgodmademe]

Unfinished poem #52: repeat and sway

Black poetry spun from a black tongue like a spider web that’ll leave me hung but I guess I’ll be sitting here swaying saying all the same things that were said 400 years ago we’ve been running forever and we never seem to be going slow but we never seem to be catching up always seem to be roughed up touched up cuffed up

[r-dsn]

Love is Dead?

Longing for something real over the clouds various angels elaborate that love

Is on the inside stuck within. Determined to escape entrapped in my rib cage asphyxiating by the moment determined to escape

- Ron Desuan

[urbaneplanner-blog]

The Death of Black History Month in 3 parts. Every February, I dig this poem out of the archives. It’s a hidden gem. Please share. @theblackpoets

[sincerelyarri-blog]

🥀 Feel free to share. | #bymepoetry #youngblackpoet #instapoet #lovepoem #poetry #poetess #wordswithqueens #globalwordsmiths #theblackpoets

[slamafrica]

TheBlackPoet aka Shiraz Batanda is a spoken word artist, performance coach and events producer based in Uganda. He is the founder and Director of the Teen Poetry Slam Uganda, an annual schools poetry competition based in Uganda and BlakPoetry256, an artists collective and Label. He is finalizing print for his first poetry collection, 'The Perks of Smoking Too Much' in which he vividly represents self while navigating love, loss, mental health, personal growth and everything in between. Catch his performance at the 65th Grand Slam event at the @knt_kenya On the 22nd. #SlamAfrica (at Kenya National Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYV4EFPIGZi/?utm_medium=tumblr

[enigmaticlordkilpatrick]

1000 followers!!!

*Drake voice*

Started from the bottom now we here!!!

Shout outs to @writerscreed, @re-bumbleblossoms, @blotched-poems, @twcpoetry, @sarahmariepardy, @poetryportal, @poetryriot, @savage-words, @theblackpoets, @thelastexhaledangel, @blackpoetsociety

And a special thanks to every person that ever read something I wrote and offered me words of praise, constructive criticism, and advice.

Thank you for the support, the re-blogs and spreading my words

I will keep writing and keep improving until the day my hands can write no more.

[darlinngninawrites]

A poem for fall

Autumnal Sundays bring nostalgia beneath the winds. East bound, chill filled with melancholy. Rose-tinted clouds adorn the atmosphere where languishing sunsets announce impending torments. The silent moon ushers in reflections of distant worlds long before darkness engulfs. The weeping trees are swollen with the murmurs of lovers muttered at their roots. Their parting leaves crushed on the ground like blisters whose drippings fall through deathly twigs.

There is a feeling all around of hope that has fallen without a sound. The imminent halt of a cycle which claimed unaccompanied souls through its tunnels. And the body anticipates the burning – the ritual of ridding the flesh of all unwanted guests.The titaness of dawn scatters new life upon mortals under a withering sky. Let us beg mercy of her supple, tender hands.

It is fall, the hours of morning go by so quickly and the prelude of the afternoon finds me suspended in a longing - inside the cold, darkened cavity I have dug for myself eluding tremors. I swing my hand into the wind wishing to appease this yearning – a violent swoosh returns it empty. Outside the names of past lovers swirl in the air interspersed in the dying summer sky. It will be hard exhaling through the memories,  mother warns inhaled grief is never released.

And I am at a standstill, awaiting the bounty of all my prayers. My thoughts aligned at the periphery of fading fears. Lay my rotting bones amongst the trembling wetlands, between the chanting sycamores. Lower my head between the dampened shrubs before rains enfold. Autumn comes not with color but with the washing of tones which have died along the way. This is what is left. This is what remains. Soon ubiquitous winter nothingness will reign.

[theblackpoets]

Jahman Hill - White Heaven 

The Black Poets on Tumblr

[leftiswhatgodmademe]

“Practice Makes Poetry” One-shot slam piece.  No edits or revisions.

[writeousmoment-blog]

Keeping the Vision Alive

You followed your path without delay.

You saw a way to make it through each and every day.

You faithfully saw your vision

because you glorified God in your decision.

This concept given to you to conceive

you’re now sharing with others who have the need to receive.

You experienced the vision through and through,

despite the setbacks your heart knew what was true.

You journeyed the distance

with strength and perseverance.

Walking with every step you took in stride,

you walked intentionally with determination on your side.

Your passion and devotion is your unstoppable drive.

It was truly your faith that made you strive

by remembering your commitment and

Keeping the Vision Alive.

Submitted by writeousmoments (c) copyright 2020

#theblackpoets #keepingthevisionalive #faith #commitment #truth #determination #passion #drive #spilledink #journeyed #everystep #writeousmoments #express #inspire #lead

[stormyfayethechristianrunaway]

Stormy Faye The Christian Runaway theblackpoets: They make Me feel like a stranger In My home From head to toes Dark brown skin tone And a belly Furthest thing from flat Filled with food everyday To quiet voices screaming that I’m ugly I’m worth less My body is wrong Wrong color and shape Could’ve at least chose one Displayed for the whole world to see “Touched inappropriately” Before I could spell memory And clearly They won’t believe what I say I’m the child, they’re adults I just get in the way Plus they hit hard They like when fights are loud Unaccounted for tears Give Me something to cry about So I keep My head down Escape through the school route But with demons on My back Telling Me it’s time now I resist Cause inside I can feel it The last flame burning in Me Too deep to extinguish The pain makes Me shout But the flame goes deeper Man’s hands can’t put it out Even if he is a keeper It grows brighter So I finally take heed I can make the world listen Being the change I want to see To embrace the light Means to let go of the fear The two of us intertwined For 20 something years It’s a death wish So, instead I dream of life And once taken, I can give it End the cycle, make it right. #Repost @theblackpoets May we all dream of life so that we can make this life right. In Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen. #FaithForTheJourney @stormy_faye StormyFaye.com https://StormyFaye.com @Stormy_Faye https://stormyfayethechristianrunaway.tumblr.com/ Use this link when you shop: https://stormy-faye-llc.myshopify.com/collections/all https://StormyFaye.com #stormyfayethechristianrunaway #December23rd #December23rd2019 (at United States) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6blo1dFnd4/?igshid=qpzouphpxmza

[miguelpaneto39975]

Follow TheBlackPoets on Pinterest Natural Skin Care Products. Enjoy your own sk… http://bit.ly/2KPvsBX