Beast

Confined to a cage,

A cell built upon apprehension

Self-loathing and insecurities

Cell engulfed by force field of resistance

And concealed under cloak of fear,

It endures: ageless and immortal

Eyes glaring, never blinking

Its focus: undeterred

Surefooted... restless

It paces, hauntingly, hither and yon

Breathing... deep... steady

Absorbing the miasmal phobia that enslaves it

As its body enters remission

Its mind philosophises

Every fibre of its being mutates

As it delves into the atoms of its impediment

And as beast evolves

The soma dissipates

And while new serum is prepared,

In the interim of applications,

Awareness breeds understanding

Enlightenment melts shackles.

It growls as it gnaws its prison’s walls

Teeth naked, fearless, unencumbered

I can feel its presence in my every thought

I see it in my shadow and in my reflection

Eyes glaring, never blinking, focus undeterred

Breathing... deep... steady

Teeth still naked,

Its heart beat pummelling the walls of my resistance

It yearns for freedom, for transfiguration

And as soma further weakens, comes infusion

Its paws become my hands electrically imbued

Its teeth... my impervious regalia

Its restless feet... my surefooted wanderlust

Its glare... my focus, undeterred

© José V. Guerra Awe

Scarecrow

Farmers have gone from horses to tractors

They’ve faced all kinds of improbable factors

While the scarecrow waits patiently in yonder field

Waiting to see what the farmland will yield

He’s seen different styles and worn many faces

All that with time the sunlight erases

Empires toppled and castles erected

He’s heard wedding bells ring and seen lovers rejected

Constitutions were written, great inventions invented

Distant planets discovered and world wars prevented

But the scarecrow holds true, diligent in his vigilance

Through the harshest conditions he upholds his stance

A true cosmopolitan, a worldwide sensation

The scarecrow’s a child of about every nation

From 8000 BC to post green revolution

His immortality is anything but retribution

And though his curiosity has forever been masked

A perplexing question for aeons has asked

“If I stand here safeguarding crops of all kinds

Who is the sentry of the food for your minds?”

© José V. Guerra Awe

War Drums

I want to dance...

I want to stomp my feet

To a swinging Jazz beat

Or a funky Soul flow

I want to sway my hips

To a spicy Salsa

To a Guaguanco

I want to tap my hands

To a feisty Punta

To some Ethnic Grooves

Most of all,

I want my heart to beat

My soul to move

To a thumping drum

I want my thought’s strings to strum

My vocal chords to hum

A symphony...

For peace

Yes... For Peace!!

Peace because...

The drums of war

Are drowning out the lively beat

I mould my life to

Peace because...

The screams of dying innocents

Are louder than the lyrics

To my favourite song

Peace because...

I want to feel the boom of a bass drum

Not the sonic boom

Of a fighter jet

Peace because...

I want to hear the rat-tat-tat

Of a snare drum

Not that of an M16

Peace because...

I want to hear the crash of a mighty cymbal

Not that of broken homes, broken dreams

And broken windows

Peace because...

I want to feel the thud of a thundering beat

Vibrating on my floor

Not that of balled fists against a poor man’s door

Peace because...

I want my subwoofer

To rattle the walls of my house

Not the rumbling engine of a tank

Peace because...

I can’t dance to this new sound

To this new beat

My feet won’t move

And my hips won’t sway

My ears can’t groove to the rhymes they spit

Or the tunes they play

War Drums can’t soothe my soul

And militant political propaganda

Is NOT poetry!!

So...

Give me handshakes

Not hand grenades...

Give me Cupid’s arrows

Not fifty calibre bullets...

Give me love songs

Not battle cries...

Give me ART!!

Not WAR...

© José V. Guerra Awe

th[INK]

My mind is ink infused

While I take time to muse

Over concepts tornado-ing

Within the confines

Of fused bone and flesh

And in the second it takes

To bring pen to hand

What was just a black hole

A brain inflammation

Turns into a supernova

Of obscure information

Then, ethereally

Thoughts materialize into

Word tattoos

Voyaging From neurons to canvas

Travelling across peak

And valley of the mind...

From muscles to fingertips

Ballpoint to paper

Sadly, my mind is

Forced through a taper

A funnel, a straw

For my thoughts are galactic

Eclectic and charged

My mind is too large

For my pen to express

And my pen is too small

For notions as poetic as these

Still, my fingers undress

The thoughts and ideas

That garb my soul’s magnificence

This cloak is impressed

On the fibres that comprise

My consciousness

And sub-consciousness

But, this striptease

This peepshow

Of my souls inner core

Will it transgress

The laws of self-preservation?

Will paper and pen

Be enough to de-stress?

Will states change?

Will my mental elements undergo

Thought sublimation?

Gaseous philosophy

To solid brick word?

Will it suffice to

Translate, to convert

To destroy, then create

What my skull stifles?

What my eyes do so well

To cork up... to seal?

Or will pen prevail

While brain waves riffle

From cortex to paper?

If I’m busy pondering

Answers to my questions

Or a reason to my madness;

Are you even wondering

What lines would be imbued

Upon a snow white sheet

If you had a pen in hand?

…So, while I try to

Conceptualize ways to

Gather MY thoughts

And verbalize ideas

Please take a moment

While I’m on the brink

Of acidic

Volcanic

Eruptions of inspiration

Please take a second

To th[INK]

With your Ink!

© José V. Guerra Awe

Lost

I’ve lost myself along the years

Within the people that I’ve known

Amongst my hardships and my fears

And all the things that I’ve been shown

I’ve lost myself in everyday

Along the streets that I have walked

In good and bad, in every way

And every conversation talked

I’ve lost myself in women’s beds

Behind the scenes of my life’s sets

And thus within emotions fed

While boldly making lover’s bets

I’ve lost myself in mellow tune

In my boredom and in fun

And in discoveries made too soon

Along the miles that I have run

I’ve lost myself in dollars spent

In rivers paddled, oceans crossed

In misfortunes I could not prevent

In every memory that I’ve tossed

I’ve lost myself in many places

In smiles, in frowns, in laughs and cries

And amongst my peoples’ faces

Deep within a billion eyes

I’ve lost myself within this room

In every sound I’ve heard

And every thought that I now groom

Even in my spoken word

I’ve lost myself in my lament

Beneath all stones I’ve left unturned

In actions done with ill intent

In people shunned and people scorned

I’ve lost myself in hands I’ve lent

And in those that I shook

In every dream that I have dreamt

Within the pages of a book

I’ve lost myself in my possessions

And upon the lips I’ve kissed

Within my longing soul’s recessions

And chances that I’ve missed

I’ve lost myself in knowledge gained

And deep within my own desires

Within potential I’ve restrained

In sparks that lit my inner fires

I’ve lost myself in journeys taken

And in those begun

Along the paths that I’ve forsaken

In battles lost and wars I’ve won

Whether through my greatest sorrow

Or even love’s sweet voice

I know I’ll lose myself tomorrow

My heart regrets but not one choice

© José V. Guerra Awe