Dancing Lotus

Like a bengal tiger, sly and sleek, I hide from you

What a pleasure it is to watch you in your element

Smiling, Grinning, coy like a geisha yet boisterous like a tabla

I can't deny that my heart goes pitter patter every time I see you

Like a lotus flower in river of complacency

You are prize to behold, a fitting gift for a deva

When will you notice me and invite me to dance

Where I Am From inspired by George Ella Lyon

I am from the pestle and motar, from Lawry's seasoning and Maggi cubes

I am from the smell of mothballs and sound of crackling candle wicks.

I am from the sunflower, the leaf of fresh picked mint

I am from midnight masses and ignorance, from Etienne and Bordes and Pierre

I am from the gossips and the spiteful.

From big boys don't cry and be a man.

I am from a mixture of African traditions lost in the mystery of Catholicism.

I'm from the crossroads of Queens and Haiti, griot avec du riz collee

From the crowds lost in translation , the drunks who get stones thrown at them, and the Schizoprenic uncle.

I am from a torn album underneath my former bed, so big and filled with memories I chose to leave behind.

Pretty Poison

Arsenic. Anthrax. Botulinum. Sarin. Racin.

They should add your name to the list. You don't go down easy.

I can feel my limbs go weak with a taste of you. I can feel my temperature rise with the thought of you. You infected every crevice of my being. Slowly killing me. Destroying me.

Why are you such a menace? I can't resist your strength or power. I have no choice but to submit under your poison.