#poetryiwrite

Year of the Dragon 龙年

Enter the wood Dragon. Another day & beginning the cycle That leaps into a turbulent Transformative lunar new year.

Your lucky numbers 1, 6 & 7. 3 & 8 avoid if you can. Lucky colors gold, yellow, silver. Limit blue & green Advised the sage.

& the obligatory red, Fan Tai Sui must be appeased. Wear red briefs, red socks, Red knickers, anything red. & go to church, temple, Synagogue or mosque.

Celebrate with family & with or friends. If solitary is your serving Open the window, smile! Let us invite Another new year in.

What can be said About entering the Dragon. That divine creature. Creator, Destroyer & shapeshifter Said to take on human form.

Identified with Jiaolong, Not those ferocious flying Fire breathing dinosaurs. More benevolent, Less malevolent, This Dragon breathes The clouds instead.

A composite of a head Shaped like a camel, Antlers of a stag, Ears of a bull, Body of a snake, 117 scales of a carp, Belly of a clam, Feet of a tiger, Talons of an eagle & eyes of a demon – Ever seen a demon? Have it as you will.

Tenacious, Courageous, Tianlong could lead the world. A dominant, ambitious spirit, Even emperors proclaimed it: I’m a son of a Dragon – I’m a son of Heaven.

So why in the Great Race Did you come 5th place? Jade Emperor bemused, Queried why you not first? Such a powerful being You can fly without wings, The Dragon took a pause & proceeded to explain.

There was a fire blazing In a village en route. The people begged for water To extinguish the danger. The Dragon produced rain Which took a little time.

Then flying over the forest, & back on track, He saw a crane to be eaten By a fierce wild dog. The Dragon intervened & the vigorous fight took Longer than expected.

Then on the last leg, Over the swirling current, On course to break The finishing tape on land. He saw the rabbit in distress, Desperately clinging to a log. Took pity & advanced A helping hand. Puffed the magic Dragon Forfeited the glory, Easing the grateful rabbit Safely to shore.

Impressed Jade Emperor, Though the Dragon came 5th, Sanctioned it To reside in the celestial sky. & master the creatures Of the bountiful seas. & made an engineer, Master of the rain – ordained An immensely generous & noble being.

Symbol of power & honor: Though out of all in the zodiac The only fictious character.

Lunar year starts tragic – Raging conflicts, Problematic elections, Economic strife, Seething inflation, Job insecurity, Some going hungry, Double digits Just to live in your home.

Pleading to Tianlong. Before immersing in longwu, We summon you to petition Jade Emperor Yu Huang:

Calm this earthly thunder. Work your magic Work your wonders. Project your reflection – & if we make it 祝你好运: The year of the Snake, Slithering through.

Fourth Reich

He pressed the post. The Reich lurches awake. The blood is poison. Vermin cross the land. The hand that signs need not itself partake; The cup of trust is passed from hand to hand.

The old alliance cracks beneath its seals. No “Sieg Heils!” but whispers break the walls. The constitution leaks through secret deals, Where private wealth becomes the public pall.

The markets flicker fast on screens and wire. Coded fortunes make the borders spin. The coup de grâce is not a shot but fire That warms the sand while time wears thin.

The beach is full. The old guard meet behind glass. The public do not see it. It has passed.

“The dog did nothing in the night-time,” said Gregory, the Scotland Yard detective.

“That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.

(Holmes points out that the dog’s silence reveals the true culprit.) — Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of Silver Blaze

The Dog That Hasn’t Barked

I want you to realize that the dog that hasn’t barked, the one who lingered in silence at the gala’s edge, on the private flight, in the island’s hush —

that dog is quiet because recent revelations expose only the outline of esoteric secrets locked away.

He does not bark because he knows the facts are brewing. He feels the weight of all that’s unspoken, the eyes that turned aside — a fragile shield of power believing their darkest acts were hidden.

We did not hear the bark, but we do hear the restless human clamoring, the magic dreams that stir after midnight, see faces of those who scraped their footprints from the soil, the guests who slipped from the party without a wave because their presence was never meant to be seen.

I want you to realize that truth sits quietly in the room with all the trophies; in the email thread marked by typos and high importance; in the photographs and videos no one ever talks about? the ones some would prefer had never existed; and in the memories of the wounded, that even death cannot erase.

And when the dog finally barks, after the long-hidden files have come into the light, the collective gasp will reverberate through the decades. And the masses who witness will shake their heads in disbelief.

Takoy Bardak

a spy whispers low the king scorns his own sages a choice here is sealed

afar war drums beat two beasts begin a new game one shrugs, the other grins

the bear plays the board the bull sees only the gate and breaks his own horns…

Ukraine’s lawn is mowed the West’s prophylactic failure? a proper shit-show

snow slicks – the steppes wide the poet writes the future apotropaic sign

***

Такой бардак

шёпот агента король отверг мудрецов выбор был сделан

грохот войны вдали два зверя новая игра один смеётся

медведь строит сети бык видит лишь ворота ломает свои рога

Украина, скошенный луг, защита Запада не сработала, настоящий бардак

степь скользкая поэт пишет грядущее апотропейский знак

The Devil on Horseback

The devil on horseback gallops through the sand, Past the rotting corpses floating in the Nile. His dark shadow stretches the breadth of the land, Feeding on the blood, the grief, and guile. He rides through villages razed to ash, Each hoofbeat a curse, each breath a flame.

Shame on the hands that fuel this fire, On the generals feasting while Sudan burns. Shame on the world that turned its face, As hungry mothers beg for bread in vain. Shame on arms traders prolonging the war, On the silence complicit in the devil’s return.

Last week, the Blue Nile ran red with blood: Girls dragged through dust, their chastity revoked. Men stacked like firewood atop the roof Of a clinic that was later bombed to dust. “Crimes against humanity,” the UN declares, Yet gold nuggets are smuggled out by the tons.

In Zamzam camp, the vultures dine On children’s bellies swollen tight. The Security Council drafts a line: “We strongly condemn.” Then fades from sight. Six percent of the aid they pledged Is like a single penny flung to the dead.

Twenty-two years since Darfur’s genocide, The same killers ride through the same sandy earth. The same graves grieve though years have passed, The same lies sold as peace and worth. O Nubia, who will carve your ancient name In the future’s mind, not history’s void?

The soccer pitches are now makeshift graves. I’m not there but heard it on the airwaves. The scramble for minerals, the looted gold reserves, While Dubai brokers juggle, civilians rot in the Nile. The traders smile while the corpses swell, Building fortunes in this abominable hell.

Gaza Sonnet

Unarmed, unfed, unprotected, they tread, For food parcels dealt by cold, ruthless hands. A death trap masked as mercy, cloaked in dread, Gunmen scout the crowd, the UN banned.

They risk the crush of death within their land, No lullabies or baby milk remain. Pounding animal feed to make a sort of flour – Leaves become food that dulls the hunger pain.

The drones above hum like a ghostly choir, Their watchful eyes extend the catastrophe. The Holy Land consumed in unbelievable fire, Sacred blood spilled beneath the cross’s glare.

Will you forgive me? I’ve got popcorn brain. I saw your vital message but was distracted again.

Scrolling fart pranks in New York’s Central Park, Blasting flatulence seems to make people laugh.

Then a notification pinged: Kendrick beefing Drake. Would you be angry if I said, pipe down, pipsqueak?

Insulting Black Messiah courting mulatto queen, But “Not Like Us” shot up by 70 million streams.

Think Drizzy has a drinking & gambling addiction? A minor psychopath always playing the victim?

Then an ad popped up about Diddy’s affliction, So, I clicked. Bad boy deleted all his Instagram.

Even the apology video for beating up Cassie, Mounting legal issues increasing his anxiety.

I apologize for not responding immediately. I’m struggling to caress a coherent train of thought.

I was about to reply, but an algorithm trapped me, Another ping & it was wholly my decision

To click a notification you may hold in derision: A headline-grabbing piece on Taylor Swift’s life!

Billions generated from the Eras Tour. Opera singer grandmother, dad a stockbroker…

Knowledge on every corner demanding attention, Craving, clicking senseless data, dopamine-driven.

They say popcorn brain is like a crack addict, Piping a cyclical habit difficult to break.

The self assesment test claimed 7 hours a day, I touch my screen & scroll in endless play.

Short bursts of data to satisfy my stimuli, even Hideous wars in Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar &

A propensity to switch when grief fills my heart – Gaza to prank farts in New York’s Central Park.

So, don’t be mad at me, I’ve got popcorn brain. I’ll respond straight away the next time around.

I’m going to call you now, but one more thing, I don’t know why I clicked; check this news I bring.

In your inbox, an article on your favorite poet, They busted him downtown, didn’t even know it.

With three blonde escorts, marijuana, & cocaine, Prancing out of his mind in a bra & G-string.

The Safety of Rwanda Act 2024. I scratch my head while reading.

Soon enacted by an ailing King, The muse hit me. I’m free versing.

I was born in England, My mother from Jamaica. After World War 2, She’s deemed a saviour. British streets paved With Wagadugu gold? As she arrived, they cried “Go back home!”

But she was strong, The wind rushed through. Whose hands and minerals Built Empires of the West? Mancunian accent, A grown man now – I’m the epitomy of English, Deterred but not a guest.

So, hey Rishi Sunak, You can send me to Rwanda, Home of my ancestors Kidnapped from Africa. I’ve been to Touba, And Jufureh, The Gambia, But wouldn’t mind chilling With a mountain gorilla, Or the golden monkeys Living in Virunga.

But when I looked it up It would cost five grand. The deportation scheme, Half a billion pounds. How many British Could that employ? Jobs for the people, Forget this ploy. Home Office workers Processing claims and

After horror stories Most migrants should remain – In this colourful nation Which I’m a part of. The Government is crooked, But some people I do love.

I’m scratching my head At this small tetchy brown man. First Asian Prime Minister Micro-managing this plan. He’s there by default Because disgraced Liz Truss, And because his parents Were given grace –

Just like my parents, It’s not about race, But he’s racing to the top, He has no face. Trying to leave a legacy, The troubling thing is: The world eyeing his policy We, the cost of living.

Through the grapevine, America might decree – Southern border migrants Sent to Haiti. Or Israel might designate Palestinian refugees, Bombed to smithereens But soon Lebanese.

Denmark plotted initially This Rwanda plan. They’re tied up by Europe, Apparently humane.

From the lord to the commons, From the commons to the lords, From the lords to the commons. Now the policy is here.

If I was ever the first Black Prime Minister My declaration would be –

On the cold cobbled stones Of Number 10, holding To the sky my assegai spear, Before the clicks and microphones Justice is laid bare:

“All who survived that perilous journey – You’re most welcome here.”

What?