Artea Mae Beamon 

she been walking here
on the other side of the road
since way back when
can you still remember then
mumbling to herself
in those low enchanting humms

thick dusty braids they crown her head
with eyes looking there in the yonder
in old clothes that never fit just right
her long bony legs they bowed
by people they saw her but never minded
her long melodic stride drumming here
in the squalor of splattered dark shadows
wallowing in the vomit of they drunken baptisms
mumbling to herself
in those low enchanting humms

and in the snare of a joke we poisoned her dead
burying all the words never did form on her lips
a moment’s reprise from our jealous despise
in the wake of her sordid demise
mumbling to herself
in those low enchanting humms

and we go keeping on laughing trying to hide
from the festering guilt she bleeding here inside’us
with the strange haunting flaying of her eyes
and’us still standing around sitting
just like her seen’us here when
she coming along marching in a soldier’s splendor
dancing underneath her heavy load
that lightning stare daunting and cadently thrashing
scolding loudly in the silence of a mother’s care
at the swallowing enlarging of this numbing retarding
in which we all be always leaning on one another
just be leaning on one another here wait’n
and passing on all alone in her daily roam
mumbling to her self
in those low enchanting humms

Copyright © 1993 Asili Ya Nadhiri

our opiating opiationing
(an ever pervading overdosing regularity)

insatiably gulping swallowing desperately
biggering potions of illusional illusions
an addicting predicting delusioning delusion
but no where near as bemusing as the blues

our eyes they reflectors reflecting rehearsals
blaring out from dry dusty eroding plains
of blank stupefyinged-ing rainbowing faces
zombiotically lying so sanctifying
the ruse justifying all our own fantasizing
of annointing ourselves as somebody else

and we’re all just pawns pawning pawns
used crumpled-ling paper cups here waiting
for more of the same old arrogating potion
so making it more easy making believing
“we gon all be like we’re being here pretended
if just we keep going on this way!”

indentured robotic marchers
always here “on call” every where
flauntingly wrapping-up in our shame
hell no!! this can’t be no question of blame
’cause all us here do’n this same damn thing
just try’n to mask our wimping somebodies
by publicly gesticulating inane postulations
so nobody else aint seeing’em
(not even us)
who still here selfishly abdicating alone
and lethargicly running on
muddling in the scripting plastic charms
of our automating pixellating arms
abetting this whom we keep on feeding
by so religiously clinging on
to our same old same opiationing
on demonic spectres of themmms

Copyright © 2018 Asili Ya Nadhiri

mesmerizing in fantasizing mesmerizing 

afflictionating in addicting afflictionationings
trying to paying no never never mindings
kicking ourselves here dead in the ass
like it’s just another hole in the grounding
arrogating in surrogating prevaricationings
that there’s never no blood in bleeding
‘cause every body they got to be knowing
there just aint no such’a thing
we orgasming in the salavating spray
of our lecherous asining gloating
spandexing flabby norms
for copy-cat-ing worn illusionationings
so posterizing fantasizings
dissolving on in teasing porn forms
it is what it is so what the hell is it is
promenading virgin whores
and diacritically ambivalenting hordes
who circling ‘round ‘n’round ‘n’round
all arounding right here in our heads
making more’n’more themms like us
stumbling and wandering blindly on
every where swallowing disclaiming
nervously portensively proclaiming
“♪this aint nothing but justa thang
it aint no shot but justa bang
close your eyes keep-on run’n alone
and holding on to the potion
of just holding on
!!!AND THEN POOF!!!
it gon all be gone♪”

Copyright © 2017 Asili Ya Nadhiri

what else should we be expecting . . .

drown’n here swirlling ‘round splash’n
grabbing onto soft decaying straws
spilling out of our serpentining maze
silently begging loudly for warm arms
caroming on away from one another
away-ing on away-ing on awaying
and on and on and on keep going
what will it take ‘fore our knowing
we’re growing this what we’re sowing
desperately so arrogantly masquerading
in the glaring darkness of our feeling alone
orchestrated march’ns in coffling crowds
they emptying fictitious demonstrations
of refuse’n to perceive our self abusing ruse
and on and on and on keep going
what will it take ‘fore our knowing
we’re growing this what we’re sowing
here spinning collateralling aboundings
of our INCESSTant duplicitious transgress’ns
festering ‘tween walls of our own disdain
of how we’re hustling so not to realize
this celebratory racing to our own demise
and on and on and on keep going
what will it take ‘fore our knowing
we’re growing this what we’re sowing
this seeming like we seemings
dissolving on into kaleidoscopic pixilations
and the quicksanding haze of our faze-ing
with it’s hovering thickening is every where
infusing blues marrowing in all we dare
and keep on claiming we’re doing the other
but so scared in this swallowing evanescing
we just can’t be letting ourselves to be care’n
and on and on and on keep going
what will it take ‘fore our knowing
we’re growing this what we’re sowing

Copyright © 2016 Asili Ya Nadhiri

humani-vore-ing

“so what’s wrong with you now!”
dis gnaw’n on’me! dat’s what’s wrong
“no way! you’re just making sump’n up!”
i aint making-up a goddamn thing!
“all right then where’s your proof! huh!”
LOOK!!!I’M ALREADY BLEED’N!!!
 “Yeah! it’s because of what you doing wrong!”
‘cause of what!I’M! doing wrong!
“nobody else here’s complaining ‘bout bleeding
so what else can it be!but i’ll tell you what . . .
if you’ll just calm down and act more civilized
i’ll tell you exactly what you need to be doing”
and who in the hell you ‘spose to be!
“the one you need to be listening to right now!
anyway . . . early somewhere in the morning
when you standing there in the mirror”
how a body be stand’n in a damn mirror!
 “listen!. . . you just be telling the rest of us
what you’re feeling like you’re seeing”
 ‘spose i say’n i aint see’n nothing
aint no body else gon be there
so how you gon know if i’m lying!
“what do you think we all be saying then
‘bout what we’re feeling like we’re seeing
when we’re standing there too
nothing!!!nothing!!!nothing!!!
because you caint be saying nothing
about nothing except nothing! . . .
now aint you got some damn nerve
here acting all out in our pretending
whining loud invisiblizing like all us all
running scared lubricating hallucinating
try’n to hide here in behind
all this seeming that we’re doing
Now Just Who In The Hell
Do You Think You Are!”

Copyright © 2016 Asili Ya Nadhiri

 

swelling dung’s “dust bowling” amber fields 

we vitiating in abetting addictionings
riding sterile blinging loins
of our automated things
seducing everybody else
on in here with’us too
greasy hands so rapaciously gorging
aint even bothering defecating no mo’

look at how pompously we’re pretending
hustling ourselves with proverbial potions
in slippery metaphorical illusionings
and flatulating resorting fabulations
we making us all want’n to be
the one who up there on a stage
dancing lips syncopating enthralling us all
“♪hey! it is what it is how else can we do
it’s all ‘bout the me aint nothing ‘bout you
we aint needing no redeeming
just mo’ scheming and seeming♪” 

on’n’on we’re impetuously harrowing
endlessly ‘round ‘n ‘round
judiciously eroding ourselves
serpentine cultivation of this fertile ground
we swallowing our tails strangulating
sopping here bursting from constipation
pompously strutting disputatiously cussing
“just tell me what else goddammit
should everybody be trying to do!!”

Copyright © 2016 Asili Ya Nadhiri

entropy-nate’n syncopate’n
(aint no body aint they feel’n
what is it is dat is dey feel’n) 

shaking rainbowed colored asses
all up they is in all the faces
con-juring mixed con-jur-red mixing
there fingering here
in all the places begging
tongues waggling up    they on the stages
wet poot’n louder fart’n louder
fart’n louder fart’n louder!
fart’n louder!! fart’n louder!!!
strategizing hypnotizing   abortionating paralyse-ing
desperate-ing desperations perpetrating perpetrations
impersonated flatulations inflation-nate-ting personations
distorted ego ‘xaggerations     filled fulling fulled
of yesterdays    of yesterdays’ invaginations
dull shining canned mastur-ra-bations
engenderinged-ing
pronominals profoundly bound
sancti-fi-sighing ‘side the sound
that sanctified here humping ‘round
harry pottered elaborations juvenilla fabrications
increasing in the crouch of wall streeted perver-se-nations
us simulating emulations emulating simulations
snapping fingers auctionating trying to sign on time
shuffling lips kaleidoscoping
so make the motherfuckers rhyme
shaking rainbowed colored asses
all up they is in all the faces
con-juring mixed con-jur-red mixing
there fingering here
in all the places begging
tongues waggling up    they on the stages
wet poot’n louder fart’n louder
fart’n louder fart’n louder!
fart’n louder!! fart’n louder!!!
strategizing hypnotizing   abortionating paralysing
desperate-ing desperations perpetrating perpetrations
impersonated flatulations inflation-nate-ting personations
distorted ego ‘xaggerations     filled fulling fulled
of yesterdays    of yesterdays’ invaginations
dull shining canned mastur-ra-bations
engenderinged-ingengenderinged-ing  engenderinged-ing . . .

Copyright (c) 2004 Asili Ya Nadhiri

holding on to clinging onto holding on
rolling over and over like i’m smug
in repeating repetitious repetitionings
numbing me on so aloning in my hiding
i aint feeling no more like i’m hiding

chewing on the same old palette-ing
(the heads and the boot on top of them never change
only the foot in the boot does) 

collaging colorings bashing
dashing jaws on concrete canvasses
hating every body who aint themm
razzmatazzing hypnotizing
annointing all the other colors
as themm satanic other themms
claiming some legislating collateralizing
is logically entitling you to be claiming
a rightful dominion amongst themms

arrogant arrogating desperationers
hustling slippery sugar titty words
propagating we cattle we herding
blatantly swallowing our slippery tails
in our publicly flaunting cherades
of dastardly floundering confoundings
parading on as glittering aboundings
so concealing a traitorous kneeling
in this swallowing imprisoning surrealing

water colorings fading and drying on out
reverently romancing pixellating stones
who’re mosiac mirages of fantasizings
noxiously dancing here twirling around
monotonous monotoning’s coffling us all
with music so loud just impounding on
frantically swirling grinding us down
so everybody’s painting in hues
who they forever just framing a blues

Copyright © 2018 Asili Ya Nadhiri

“it aint nothing but’ah thang”
“is a hole empty because it’s a hole
or a hole because it’s empty”

 appetizing
serpentining mathematizing 

words we choosing for chewing and using
they abusioning confusioning effusioning
concocionings of syntactical illusionings
like our medicinal drinking of the blues
or a brand new burst of used news
they’re loud pleading portraits
of our rampantly obtunding despair
moralizing a coffling salacious puking
drying out and hardening on canvasses of
vicariousing exhibitionists we vicariousing

and every body we addictively snorting
this long fermenting perverse-a-nationing
ruse-a-nating semanticationing
so it seeming just like
we aint is-ing how we is-ing
sublimating in acquiescing publicationings
justifying the illusions we’re flaunting
masquerading this daunting “what ever”
as just a naturally recurring glitching
in having all us here really wanting

Copyright © 2018 Asili Ya Nadhiri

Kano Women
(of Kano, Nigeria) 

the women here have cocoa colored glances
always seeming to go somewhere else
their bodies are covered in long wraps of cloth
dipped in many colors bright
made out in the sun
walking tall along long dirt paths
child tied there on her back
a bucket full of water resting here on her head
her delicate shoulders quietly nestled
smoothly flowing softly going
in the gentle swaying whisper of her presence
here in this baked desert land cool
water she’s sipped pouring here through our hands
coming there in my eyes going here otherwise
everywhere and besides
so silent so heard
the resonance of melodious words

Copyright © 1990, 2015 Asili Ya Nadhiri