BROWN MOLASSES

Once upon a time
Sugar was alien to the western palate
Meanwhile, in the sweetest clime
Kingdoms enjoyed abundance in all forms

These highly conscious beings
Travelled the world as ambassadors of culture
And brought innovation and things
Europe was built by kings made of gold

A sudden but gradual switch was forced
As the fearfilled stole breathing sugar
In whose veins creation coursed
Sun kissed, wise, hospitable and open

Carnage ensued as dark hueman flesh
Was turned into commodity and profit
Sugar lost its taste in the mesh
Horrors untold visited upon the trade

Century to century black lives matter
The ocean claimed cubes as they fell
Reality made raw by the serving on a platter
Inhumanity denied nothing for anything

After all the infernal hubris and asinine lies
In the midst of the boiling down process
Those kings arose from the syrup
Sweeter than before to again possess

With iron in the soul and fire in the belly
The dark liquid of courage remained
A people of high tenacity akin to brown molasses
Slowly formed as they became sweeter;
Look at us now
How beautiful is the castle of our skin!

©zari alexxanderr-caine 2018
#OurBlaqStories #blackpoetboy

Bring Me A Dream

I looked into the face of my face
and said words in lined thoughts
A word with mySelf ensued
How do you speak to the essence of Life?

Unspoken love whispered as I waited
I heard the sound of a dream anew
The texture is smooth and then rough
I picked up the sense of contrast

When I self-inquire, it's the way I choose
Standing on a beach of white sands
Listening to the voice of soul in hushed tones;
"Bring me a dream".

I reach out and touch my face

©zari alexxanderr-caine 2018
#blackpoetboy

Last week, two prominent names in the media, ended their lives of their own choice and accord. There have been a plethora of prominent people who have chosen to leave in such shocking ways that we, the on-looking and starstruck masses gasp with shock and disbelief.

We gasped collectively on why and how this can be. We try to rationalise that they were the poster people for success, its accoutrements and dreams come true and yet we see people like us making decisions that are informed by many factors. I wonder too. I also think that I understand why.

It's a human phenomenon.

Whoever we are and in whatever aquarium we choose to swim, we are dealing with some harsh and strong currents that are beneath the seeming glassy exterior that we portray to others. We hide our true feelings and share insipid factoids to ease the pain and expectations of others. We hold back our light and let the shade that systems throw stick to us as real.

I am not certain what pushed Kate Spade and Anthony  Bourdain and Robin Williams and the many others in the limelight to choose to end their journeys but I completely understand the premise. I feel on the edge at times. It's a fact of life that our culture is hiding behind its hands in denial and so buries its head in the sand. Mental health issues are a fact of modern living as it has always been in times past but moreso in our overstretched modern culture. And yet, there is a hush about the fragility of the human mind. There is a taboo that shuts off many who are in that shaky place. It disregards fame, fortune or personality. Life is not cruel, conversely, we are not listening to the loving guidance that is in the Universe as us.

I struggle often with trying to keep it together in ways that slip from from my hands. There are a smorgasbord of triggers that present other mind games that are sure to lead to dark and depressive episodes or fully fledged depression. No one can tell when the crack happened. No one can see the train coming on the track that isn't there. No one can predict who is frail or strong. Especially the so-called strong. The lid must be lifted from this shadowy part of our lives and allow the light of truth to shine. We do better in the sun. We suffer in the dark.

When celebrities are cracking before our eyes, what must we do to assist them lovingly? Are we not on the same team called humanity? Are we not made of hair and skin and hopes and dreams? Do we think poverty kills more than affluence? Or is it a racial problem of a human issue?

I know that I, as a person with no grand clout, influence and relative power, I struggle with the market forces that squeeze beyond my abilities of course correction, the intentions of others when gentrification is the darling of the government and the theft of livelihoods by nefarious measures plus the impact on relationships, family, faith and fortune, it's a perfect recipe for fractured people to fall apart. The stigma attached to mental health problems is making it difficult to rise again. If those with all the bells and whistles are checking out suddenly as we are witnessing, what hope is there for those of us who are as common as muck, so to speak?

We are in danger.

We are custodians and not owners. We are relationship wired beings. We came with nothing and will take nothing with us when we transition out of here. What is it that is so important than life lived with purpose, joy, love and generosity cannot fill?

Is bigger, better, more really enhancing our lives or is it simply diminishing the flavour of our individuality and our collective consciousness? I am for openness in recognising, assisting and healing all kinds of mental health problems. Hiding never solved anything.

Can we start by owning up to the fact that most of us are closer to cracking than we care to admit? Can we open to the possibilities that are creating an imbalance in our engagement with life? Can we just fess up and tell our trusted ones that we are overwhelmed? Can we find our strength in what we think is a weakness? Can we listen to each other between the lines first and then speak truthfully in a safe space? Can we realise that everyone on earth is beleaguered with modern life and the cultural demands that we create?

Can we talk honestly?

Can we?

©zari alexxanderr-caine 2018
#blackpoetboy

Prosperity Calls

I left my space to travel far
The sights I encountered were riddled with the dark
My strength faded when I saw the door and
The mind twisted like steel in the furnace's spark

I think that my joy is hiding far away
I surmise that I must go and meet it
And so, with just my fear I saw it all at play
Bitterness slapped me hard where I did not sit

The vista looked inviting until night fall
I realised my soul when the mind failed
I had left home thinking there was a high wall
Only to discover that my false boat had sailed

Deep inside me I knew a voice
so sharp, sweet and mine
It is the Universe reminding me of my ultimate choice
That was when I stepped over the fake line

The sound of beautiful music beckon to me
Decisively, I ran beneath the cascading falls
My guide takes me by the hand to who I am to be
And then, I can't forget the feeling of when prosperity calls

©zari alexxanderr-caine 2018
#blackpoetboy

Black Rainbow

I am non descript in my appearance
The jolts of fire that spark within me
Is invisible to the closed sight
I am soul disguised as a daughter, a son, sister, a brother, a cousin, a friend, a human and an all rounder on the journey of life
My magic is awesome and yet hidden
Like diamonds waiting in the coal

I am human in sensuality
I am spirit in divinity
I am not the 'other' as they say
There are no 'others' but one
My attraction is awesome
Like the flower that the bee seeks
I feel love in a spectrum that seems to scare the fearfilled
I am not violent
Just a part of the fabric of Life
My stance is regaled in mystery by closeness

I am the shade of Everything in one hue
Yes, this is me at peace
And not in the pieces that the narrative cuts me
The cold game is not true love
Love is the kaliedescope of the cosmic way it expresses ItSelf
I am one prism filled with the whole

My skin is not black but the colour of night
I am the beginning of what fears me now
I work. I laugh. I sorrow. I fall. I learn. I have. I know. I fear. I create. I breathe. I am...
My sight is real in the dark

I am part of the family
And yet the same family I call mine
Reject, deject, suspect me without respect
My sexuality is but the version of the same Universe
Why am I made to feel ashamed of my authenticity?
Does not the same sun drench my space too?

I bring colour to the experience we call Life
I see what you hold yourself from seeing
Does blood flow through our collective veins?
I create the invisible tangible
By my uniquely sublime gifts just like yours and God's
This game of thrones is futile
For we are the one of the One
Who breathes as us

Look into my eyes
My face speaks the same language as yours
When did who we love steal from ourselves?
Who coined the labels right and wrong?
Why do you stick the label 'wrong' on my person?
Are you right? Did Love tell you this?

I am non descript in my appearance
I am you with a different and certain flare
I am the quiet storm that creates
You can see me anyway you want
The same God that holds the mystery in the process through you is shining through me too
Hate has no place at our table
The banquet is for all of us
When will we stop this dispicable fuss?

We are one
The hue and the sexuality matters not
All that sings is the octaves of pure motive suffused with Love
This phenomenon we know as Source
Does not demand any kind of force
Our world is dancing with awe-inspiring colours that tell one story
The story of the Universe that constantly reveals the black rainbow

©zari alexxanderr-caine 2018
#blackpoetboy