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UNDERGROUND VOICES: POETRY
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TOLU OGUNLESI
Mental Weather the mind is sometimes a guest- book inked in vehement calligraphy, a map whose north and south poles exchange seats by the second. sunlight and syllable shuffle in, neatly arranged, and return to source arrayed into a dark disorder. this, is the simple magic of mania. cobwebs clog the four corners of mind, reality-shows auto-shooting in the staid studios of consciousness. pills tango in the infinite corners of madness, bearing the impotence of chemical light, terse rainbows guest-appearing in the night sky. the mind is sometimes a guest book where words lock us out, sealing themselves in bunkers of new meaning. Those Eyes They examine my nakedness, Squander time Gazing at my ancient Collar-stains, holes-in-socks, Chipped soles, my forlorn soul. Those eyes diagnose My vilest musings, plough Arid swathes of pocket, mock My fingers (frozen in air In the search for a responding Handshake). A wounded Mind – or eyes that wound? The Modern Woman's New English Guide Virginity used to be the definition Of pure, the safety Catch for weapons of mass arousal... -- The Blog of Lamentations. mutual infidelity is the new english, the synthetic plastic of purity. Other required accoutrement include the helmet of Fear (not of God & disgrace; but of the clock), the safety-catch (once made from the family name, but now from rubber), the belt of scalpel-carved comeliness and artificial nails daubed daily with the brilliance of feminism. Tolu Ogunlesi was born in 1982. He is the author of a collection of poetry Listen to the Geckos Singing From A Balcony, (Bewrite Books, UK, 2004). His fiction and poetry have appeared in Wasafiri, Sable, Orbis, Eclectica, Stickman Review, VLQ, Inkpot, Mississippi Review, Times Arts Review, Smoke: A London Peculiar, 500 Nigerian Poets, Sentinel Poetry Quarterly, Camouflage, Pindeldyboz and Subtle Tea among others. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria. |
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© 2007 Underground Voices |
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