Reddened palms, and severe strained perception. 

Sunken stones, and a misplaced direction. 

Torn out pages, and faltered steps. 

Unkissed lips, and regardless contempt. 

Barren wastelands, and cigarette smoke. 

Heaviest affection, and a wind well blown. 

Induced oblivion, and ascending peaks. 

Plummeting valleys, and willows that weep. 

Provoked altercation, and hands that shake.

Well kept promises, and earths that quake. 

One simple stature, and one complicated mind. 

She knew what it all meant, and it drove her blind.

these rooms smell

of loving nostalgia

filled with our love’s

centrifugal logic.

these rooms

have comfortably

crawled into my soul.

but, often when

you leave

i sing a blue song

of longing –

loneliness is like

respiratory failure.

but at night

i listen to the

beauty of your breath

and peacefully

drift into loving space.

7/19/17

Let’s be real, it’s a dog eat dog world and to get ahead you’re gonna need some aid

Let’s not play the fool or stick our heads in the sand but call a spade, a spade

The world we live in isn’t quite a utopia

It’s flawed and laced with short cuts and favouritism

One may ask, ‘What’s really wrong with nepotism?’

If it gives you an opportunity you didn’t work for

Preferences might have gotten you in, but that ought not them from showing you the door

Everyone knows that team chemistry, tight bonds, close-knitted relationships are a must

It’s the best thing for corporate success nowadays, plus

Add the fact that the money is kept within the family for many generations

And that personally grooming and mentoring your hand-selected heir apparent is better for smooth successions

Arguably a family-oriented business is better to deal with that a robotic conglomerate enterprise

It may seem though like compromising moral ethics but it’s also an investor-friendly paradise

However, the problem that can arise with having links is corruption

Especially in a society that claims to be based on meritocracy and not ascriptive connections

Because it deprives the ordinary Joe’s and Jill’s from paying their bills

Perks and benefits gained from one’s social circles is not wrong in and of itself

Especially if there no perceived harm caused to procure your wealth

But in all honesty such an explanation is really unsatisfactory

How can there be jobs created for others, but no vacancy for the holder of a Masters degree or PhD?

Like it is a curse to be a part of a different family tree?!

Who one “knows” is not an indication of their sense of responsibility

Networking is certainly the foundation of being a salesperson and pyramid schemes

Where unless you work for yourself, you will be working your life building others’ dreams

The world is not level, so says the mule

Not all are created equals and maintaining the status quo is just the system’s rule

But even with that, one of the worst things that could happen

Is if one was to waste such privileges and take those unfair favours for granted

Then Networking is not only a conflict of interests but a detriment to the labour force

Because productivity is low while the unemployed at home, is a willing work horse

On closer scrutiny, links can be seen as a compromise of integrity

And that’s not something we would want to promote in our society

But there are situations in which network connections are justified

Some people just need some leeway or a lucky break to actualized

Their full potential and talents that would be hidden if they were not given

A chance or shown immense faith by their high-ranking friend

After all, encouragement does sweeten and motivate labour

And to escape the dreaded claws of poverty by having a benefactor

Makes the sponsor not only a Good Samaritan but also a Saviour

(c) A.Williams, 2015.

I am christened by this warm water

the blood running down the backs of slaves

and I bathed, and bathed, and bathed in it

as if it were a hot spring

Those poor ancients were by blood my saviors

I am holy and preserved through their sufferance

for them, high indeed, I should lift my head

I have not cried out day and night

as they did before the temples and tabernacles

for deliverance

Nor have I cried to the stars all day

hoping that they'll lift up my soul into a place of sheer bliss

Those ancients are my gods

I feel their breath mussing up my hair

so pure are their souls that once were full of troubles

I am stronger now, yet

in spite of this gift inculcated in my genes

I must eat and drink little, and so beware never

to satisfy these humanly longings.

I must view the world with eyes of mercy and forgive

Fill every empty heart with compassion,

even those of souls who stirred up wrath and clamored for my demise

I must disremember the grievances of flesh,

and so do as those ancients bid me to do,

for they were but flesh

The wind they breathed is the same squall around my feet, and the same fog on violet hills

that hisses for peace, and blows my eye-lids straight to sleep

I have been born and molded out of sheer glory

and time in its diligence has arisen me up to dizzying triumphs

to endow me with wisdom, so that I inherit the foundations of all nations

I am those ancient gods that walked in the darkness, so that there may be light

I am those tides that brought fish good and ready to be had

I am those birds that climbed high in altitude

and viewed the earth from above

and spoke to saints to turn sinner away from stray

I am those actions long past and unfelt, that made this moment possible

I am the whirlwind dust that answers all voices that supplicate, and those that do not

I am the wood that spews fire, the dark that give birth to light

the child that drew pyramid and bent the tide

so we could consult together as beings beneath this vast cosmos our home!

He who bows to kings and clowns

once a man amongst plain and homely fellows

he who led a rebellion, and alas, beleaguered

in the belly of the beast. his plight dust bent

he rises high amongst Lords; a renegade 

covered is his face with soft pigments

a masquerade to climb the gold ladder

Lo! once a peasant, now a prominent gentry 

tall and lanky with costly jewels  

taking the lead, in a blind procession,

it's a conglomeration of nude spirits,

the mass he formed, those who

beneath the sunbeam search, yearning

for the universe to bend beneath a man's

dominance, O this ascendancy of the dunce!

who seek to exercise power in an oppressive way

their breaths so heavy amid the vast atmosphere

their deadly orisons steal over the firmament, 

it's dark, the sun flies from such malfeasance

God withdraws further into clouds, he goes...

and at the toll of the last bells,

there awaken a softened breed, a leaf-litter

rent in spirit and bound to treason

how it bows with glory and pride

to the same quisling who sold the land

to gain currency and expansion of his own purse

they hold his name high and eat the morsel 

that falls timely from his capacious table 

this is a breed birthed from wet money

losing every sense of time to escalating crises 

this soft breed is cold, fed straight away 

with glitter; so, it glows even amidst a quagmire

can they tell how it rends; the pain in their chests

I pour my love into you every morning

And as you almost fill you empty completely

An excise in futility

As if I'm related to Sisyphus 

Yet, each morning I try again

A small red circle, a number appears

Eyes fly to meet it; a voice cheers

Bubbling inside, a wonderful sensation

My mind is stuck inside a little notification

Dividing average from superior

I bleed the hue of its exterior -

heart beating for its validation,

my mind is stuck inside a little notification

I write with care, I dive into the rough

No red in sight - was it not good enough? 

hands run through my hair in frustration -

My mind is stuck inside a little notification

hated passionately yet bound by the power,

dragged toward its pull to check ever hour

My curse, my cure; my death, my salvation,

My mind is trapped inside a little notification.

i was there, at your birth

holding breath to realize

your being, in ways no

longer secret to the world.

i crooned a cradle song

between the days of then

and now. I readied steady

hands to hold you tight; barely

blinked a thousand times and

then – you walked alone into

the world – while tears, both

sad and salty, coursed a trail

long followed down my face

This is hard to say…

I don’t want you anymore

Yet, I tremble at the thought

You have been here

It seems forever

You kept every promise

You satisfied every need

I don’t want you anymore

When my world crumbled

You took hold of my hand

When I held my breath

Demanding to die

You whispered lies of hope

We danced dreams together

I don’t want you anymore

I close my eyes

And suck your bitter-sweet essence

Slowly you reduce me

You take me away

I don’t want you anymore

Tomorrow will break

And you will be gone

A fresh beginning

A Day One

I don’t want you anymore

"Is it possible, Neil," I began, as I rolled

The weed in the browned paper sold

By the man at the nearby corner store

"That the religion is something we can't ignore?"

"Well, Carl, good question." Neil inhaled the essence

"Perhaps all can't be explained (away) by science."

"Yup," I took my hit. "Too much beauty to be

quantified by science." I nodded, happy to be free

from science's restrictions.  Neil's face broke to a grin.

We passed the blunt between us in silence then.

And, as he stifled the blunt's flame of clarity out,

Neil asked a single a question to the air, "what now?"