SNOW DAY HONEYMOON

(original appearing as part of the play “ST 1.O” produced by New Galaxy Productions)

We hibernate

nestle

nuzzle

cuddle

snuggle

Today a storm has

once again

saved the day

I spend that grace

with a fresh angelic face

In a cozy den

tucked away

stocked cabinets

turn to picnic baskets:

cookies and cashews

croissants with fresh preserves

Godiva-dipped macaroons

and your infectious giggle

Doors bolted by snow

windows boarded up with ice

I shutter to think of the frigidness

between the Frigidaire

and the body heated

blankets

warm noses on bare skin

freshly revealed

from lambs wool

feel

the smell

blaze

your fire place

my stick of incense

Make love fully canvassed

in cashmere comforters

speckled light sprinkles us

like stars in the skies of Cancun

We lay out as if sun baked

lightly seasoned in sea salt

marinated in rioja

sautéed in suspense

of new found infatuation

then spritzed with freshly squeezed

you

Furloughed by nature's reprieve

sensual solitude

our winter solstice

blossoms into

summer vacation type

spats of Olympic sex

lighting up the day

as if the 4th of July

Eventually emotions blossom,

and Spring

change, then Fall

when feelings change colors

and leave

Yes, seasons will pull back the covers

until then, I'll enjoy our Snow Day

tanned by your smile

vowing nothing, but all of my now.

-Bomani Armah

-Snow Day Honeymoon is featured in Circumlocution Vol. II

The Journal

I walk into the venue, and saw this book on the floor.

As distinctive as it was, no one noticed it

I wait for someone to reunite with it

No one does, so I walk close enough to read the cover

“JOURNAL”

I’m curious about autobiographies,

but intrigued by journals

the untouched snapshot of a five sense

one mind

one spirit

emotion

whose journal would you read

if you could read but one?

I’d read Jesus’ journal

a Nazarene carpenter’s would be 1/10 as literate as Waka Flocka claims to be,

but his pop's coulda just flipped a switch like Morpheos

downloading God’s version of Word Perfect to Neo

Imagine the ease of editing Jesus’ autobiography

NO fact check,

or spell check. 

It would be blinding to read after a while, every word would be in red.

We reverence words once they are written

War is waged over the existence of a word

'Til the dictionary anoints it

Words attempt to describe

But never decide

truth

grammar be damned

I pick up the book

Hand bound cover

a visionary artisan had salvaged

the ruins of something grand

and left parts of their life inside of it

The temptation grows to read it

At least to see who’s signature is on it.

The signing of your name is a historical ripple

Especially when adorning arduous,

 rhetorical legal type

bonding agreements between men,

their government

            and their god

words canonized by song and annual days off

Or the Rorschach test formations

of scripture passed down from

nomadic tribes of the middle east

Each to add their biographical moment

Ideas float around

Philosophies blow in the wind

Nothing adds gravity like saying

“it is written”

we know this, Jesus did not have the time,

the motivation,

understand of its importance.

to write his own story

a miracle birth and a crucifix death, the crux of your very existence

passed orally

through whisper

then in exclamation

then under the cruelest of tortures

before being written down

four generations later

giving it the creditability of a community poem

I love community poems

Simple standard pages stapled

turned to parchment

as it is passed through the congregation

each adding their psalm

a five sense

one spirit

one mind emotion

shared by the masses

the book is screaming at me like the tell-tale heart now

mad at myself, for being mad at myself

for wanting to know what I should not know

but there are things I need to know

mere accounts of Jesus disappear between his ages of 12-30

you know how many questions I have for 13 ear old Jesus?

when did he realize his divinity?

How did he interact with his friends?

Did his body ever fail him?

Did he have acne or diarrhea?

…How did 13 year old Jesus handle morning wood?

No matter how he handled it, it was perfect. 

Did he toss and turn, try to think about baseball or his grand parents?

Did he just say “peace be still”?

I feel betrayed by being held back from the power

he could have imparted this word

     starved

world

with just a few journal entries

bronze age tweets on tablets

by now I have picked up this journal, and have determined to read it

What up Bomani! You are now reading God’s journal.  Not Jesus. His father. God

(flip the page)

don’t be shocked but every single page you turn to will take you to exactly the part of my journal I want you to read

(flip the page)

I heard your

Sarcastic

Sideways

Remarks

About the ridiculidified version of my biography that is

I know you only have a minute and 5 seconds left so I’m going to skip around to the good parts.

Day 1: I’m bored. 

Day 100 million: I went to see the people of Jericho today.  They have a new god now, he ain’t even cute.  I wish they where dead!... ooops

Day 3billion 85million 211thousand 32: I was chillin with Beelzebub today, just shooting the breeze.  He dared me to mess up job’s life.  I’m cool with Job, but the devil kept saying “I betchu he will curse you, I betchu!  You not gonna test’em?  Why not? You scared? I dare you, I double dog dare you!” There we where, to deities throwing rocks into traffic.  What else was I suppose to do?

March 3, 1BC: I finally decide to try this sex thing out that I gave to these humans. I decided to make it interesting. I went and impregnated a Jewish virgin, without even telling her.  I sent my messenger later to inform her, and left her and her betrothed to explain herself to community that would stone her for sex before marriage…per my request.  We’re gonna have a son.  This will be interesting

Now: I am talking to you, I am always talking to you. Don’t ever trust a book that was supposedly written by me, if it has an ending.

-Bomani Armah

-The Journal is featured in Circumlocution Vol. II

Moment of Silence

By Bomani Armah and Lisa “Lady Pcoq” Pegram

Love is a language of laughter and tears
But the most telling moments are ones of silence

We have built this house
Where love reverberates off walls
And this isn’t sound
The squeak of the door
The creaks in the floor
The pitch. The mood
We’ve tuned each other out
every story has been told
once melodic yarn spun across bedroom floors
like sunsets on desert horizons
like red wine on breath
like new velvet yielding to my fingers
now we just drone on
at one time the tenor in my voice held you
Now you wish I would hold my tongue
Sucked Teeth
Tapping fingers
The drum major in a war of words
the frustration is audible, so we change the play

Lost in translation
Not worth the frustration
There are no words for what I’m saying to you
Hush now
Not what but how
In my silence I have no choice but to be true

Your laugh brings color to white noise
Your accent flavors my morning
Your silhouette leaves me dumbstruck
Heart valves as metronome
Our minor disagreements show the beauty in dissonance
Our bedsheets soak in the echo of last nights love making
As you say my name in your own time signature
Struck a major chord
When the cacophony of life perforates ear drums
Leaving sky lines bleak
the air blanketed in rotted dreams
like raw knuckles on granite
the rhythm of your words is the percussion
that gets me back on beat
the perspective that brings my world back to scale
the conflict that resolves into harmony
in this duet, we pluck heart strings
until we hear
nothing

Lost in translation
Not worth the frustration
There are no words for what I’m saying to you
Hush now
Not what but how
In my silence I have no choice but to be true

-Bomani Armah

-Moment of Silence is featured in Circumlocution Vol. II

SupermanBatman

The simplest statement,
spoken from the heart,
is more profound
than scripture

I fixed a four year old's favorite toy
With little more than the flick of a button
He looked me in my eyes
And smiled like he was opening a birthday present
postmarked from heaven

saying
"Wow daddy, u r Superman Batman!".

This little vessel with limited life lived
And an inkling of a vocabulary
Wanted me to know I was greater then any super hero he could fathom

I walked a step or two away before it hit me, and I almost teared up. That is to this day the most profound compliment I've ever received. Not only was it a compliment, but an expectation

When it comes down to it, this is all there is
This is my only love, this is my only bizz
I don't even think about it, and I never mind
When I'm gone, this is all I leave behind
Despite that i feel so inadequate
He thinks I'm a godlike, I think I'm bad at it
He appreciates every word and every touch
Makes me remember that I love my dad that much

The most amazing man the world has ever found
Could reach the top of the fridge without a single bound
with laser beam vision that makes the world melt
handle any situation with his utility belt
An American hero, the man of steel
his minivan was cooler than the Batmobile
could jump from anywhere straight into his open arms
I had a superhero, no need for lucky charms

Remember when I first became a teen
Before I knew what being a grown man meant
Went thru that phase to define myself
Stopped looking in his eyes to find myself
Stopped listening, stopped calling
But knew he'd be there to stop me from fallin
didn't appreciate the time and effort spent
so he changed from Superman, to Clark Kent

his biggest investment, his biggest drain
no longer needed Batman, I needed Bruce Wayne
you took it with a smile, like "i'll be that"
knowing when I needed super powers i'd be back
because he made it look so easy
The big things to raise me, the little things to please me
he's home, I don't have to be brave
my fortress of solitude his garage is my Batcave
The things he'd do without asking twice
Before I understood the meaning of sacrifice

Raised three kids, we knew he was proud of us
played the background, preferred to be anonymous
as i sit here in awe of all his abilities
super human strength, cat like agility
X-ray vision reveals life's mysteries
like Superman and Batman his strength is his humility.

-Bomani Armah

-SupermanBatman is featured in Circumlocution Vol. II

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