Neso Onyeuche

I sat beside the window sill
and watched the world turn gray
I didn't know what I should feel
so I just looked away
...

I am patient

I wait for things to fall apart
so patient, I anticipate
...

I cried above the sink today.
my tears could not be found
for they had joined themselves
with soapy water, stolen now.
...

Lovely lemon-scented bubbles
lounging, listless in the air.
Running from your only purpose;
dirty dishes are down there.
...

Subtle stripes like faded dye
stain my face each dawn.
relics of a sleepless night;
evidence I mourn.
...

just when I think the day is dry,
just when I think it's boring, I
pass an old friend at the supermarket—
an old friend in a hideous jacket.
...

Sunset-hued balls of sugar
idle on the platter.
not like oranges,
less acidic.
...

'Black Lives Matter'
says the activist.
she has been here ages.
daunting though this age is,
...

peel your eyes from
lofty skies and
vast horizons please.
if you look
...

unbelievable
her beauty in the morning
how am I to breathe?
...

a broken heart is an open heart
a pipe with a missing valve
pain, though a fickle agent,
always transforms
...

It was Monday when it happened,
I was new at our school.
Longer hair before you cut it,
your old style was really cool.
...

open my casket.
find the breath I could not lose,
still caught in my throat.
...

I know you've heard the warnings

fear the dark
run away
...

Void of rhyme
Avoiding reason
Mood fluctuating by the season
Still procrastinating even
...

Speak of the devil,
and they shall appear—
a different face for every fear.
...

there's a desert in my throat
circling a choppy ocean
a distinctly sandy coat
'round the words that should be flowing
...

sticks and stones may break my bones
but you hurt my very soul
it erodes
then explodes
...

I've always been too skinny
and a little bit too tall
my torso almost looks
like there is zero flesh at all
...

a little birdie had injured his wing
which, for a birdie, was not a good thing

hurt little birdie remained on the ground
...