the manning . . . (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

the man-ing
(ode to a Haitian bag boy)

the words in my lips are silent
and this still wide smile
is biding something inside here of me
as brown grocery bags are neatly filled full
and carried out somewhere to a car

a broom in my hand and a tiny dust pan
trying to pass by here without being seen
and all of you there wandering
in those clean wide aisles
are passing on by and never minding
the taste of greying in my abandoning hair
and the steady glimmering here in my eyes
quietly hinting of another somebody there walking
in the ties of this pale orange apron

Copyright © 1993 Asili Ya Nadhiri

as we blindly stumble on (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

as we blindly stumble on

I’m feeling a cold wind blowing
and taking what little there’s left
for us to wrap here around us

I’m seeing wet glossy eyes trying to cry
and long empty arms reaching out for themselves
and words lost here in the echos

I’m smelling the oily odor of unwashed lives
doused in perfumes costumes and mobile tombs
filed in cold and lonely rooms

I’m lamenting the many times in temperate climes
when those things warm and easily won
are tossed away and left undone

Copyright © 1988 Asili Ya Nadhiri

National Gardening

If weeds are rapidly and rabidly growing in our nation’s garden, we should acknowledge that the soil in our garden and our cultivation regimen are supporting (sponsoring) and advancing their growth.  It seems, however, that we are addicting to exhausting our energies serpentining (mathematizing, rationalizing, spinning) this circumstance by defining a weed as “any plant that is growing where it is not wanted.”

“Get Over It!!!”

We are witnessing the blatant and ceaseless persistence with which a select group of our elected leaders (and their sycophants) are willing to sacrifice their respective constituents (and all others) in order to try to do the impossible:  Erase history recorded during the time of billions of living witnesses.  What history? THE FACT THAT A BLACK MAN WAS ABLE TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; AND THAT HE HAD THE AUDACITY TO BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE!!! The absurdity is so obvious: Reversing and sabotaging legislature does not matter; change of what is is a naturally recurring phenomenon. This is an essential part of leadership: To amend and/or change what has been in light of new and intervening factors. They are doing this knowing that millions will suffer if they are successful in their transparent machinations—including millions of those whose blinding desperation led them to elect them. Apparently these leaders are simply too insecure and scared to dare to even care or realize that “you and yours are going to suffer right along with everyone else.” Perhaps the historical perverse-a-nationing of you and your kind has advanced and infected you to the point where it is not allowing any respite. NO MATTER, YOU CANNOT CONCOCK SOME NEW RULES AND HAVE THE FINAL SCORE DISQUALIFIED IN THIS GAME IN WHICH YOU ARE (BY YOUR OWN COUNT) “ZERO AND TWO.” WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO ERASE IS NOT, NECESSARILY, HIS LEGISLATURE; NO!!!YOU WANT TO ERASE THE FACT THAT AN AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE WHIPPED YOUR BUTTS—TWO OUT OF TWO TIMES—AT YOUR OWN GAME, AND THERE IS NOT A DAMN THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! SUCH AN ERASER DOES NOT EXIST! So, as one of your ardent Hollywood actors/supporters so gruffly and cavalierly admonished: GET OVER IT!!! Yes, get over it and focus on governing; on being public servants who work for all those whom they have been elected to serve; this is the only victory available to you, now. Do not worry, as long as you sell papers, the media will be with you no matter what

lonely-ing-ness (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

lonely-ing-ness

for way long too long
you been never impounding
those pleasing surrogations
teasing in the lap of your wanting
that keeping on sipping you slowly
from the same cracked cup
of all your stone grey mornings

en-wantonly
you’ve went going bemusing on
in desperate machinations of momentary ruses
as cold armbouchures of this numbing reposing
they swallowing you up   erasing you on
in darkening vicarious doses
of fondling schemata

and you abiding a little less
each time than before
regressing over and over
in your own behesting
there wrapping up inside all
your pretended pretendings
of what you thought
was meant for you

you all alone in there
in all by yourself
with nobody else
not even you

Copyright © 2009 Asili Ya Nadhiri

tha -inged-ing -duh-ing (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

tha -inged-ing -duh-ing

in a grand mastu-r-bation
we all us all con-trivialating
in ethnicized configurations
that “it’s just all about me”
pander’n pandered hip-notic panderers
pump’n like this’s all that’s real
. . . but the coffle-linged eyes en-still-ing
they still betraying us all
prancing stones we marched on
in a hummed-drummed marching

and every body hustling
shuffled on in the hustling
knowing that we knowing
that we knowing we all whores
rehearsing for the selling
in the sale sold selling
driveling mouths scrolling fast
our consensual snide
in farting words trolling out
some big protuberating ass
propagating this numbing
perver-se-nation-ning om

swallowing all and we all  swallowed-up
all up in our swallowing
he-s down-lowing him-s
just like the same as with her she-s
rainbowed feelings feeling all around
every where in them-ed shadows
trying to pawn forbidden things
painful gnawing coalitions
of this unknowing retard

we all us all we every thing-ing
just trying to come back here inside
and always through an other
that’s this some nother body self-ing

Copyright (c) 2005 Asili Ya Nadhiri

entropy-nate’n syncopate’n (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

*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 paralysing
desperating 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
desperating 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 engenderinged-ing  engenderinged-ing . . .

Copyright © 2004 Asili Ya Nadhiri

intussusception-ninged-ing (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

intussusception-ninged-ing
**(rivers us known-ning bent pulling pulled
 bending ‘round the ‘lan’ic ocean
for making mo’ us all should
oughta done    be seen seen-ing) 

aboding dark mattering imploding on
through in the middle of this passing on
feeling ‘round in them borned forbidden things
spawning on in the holdings
of this swallowing dark womb

stole! pour’d on this journey sow’d
by some them who us!  by who’us sold
herding dark bodies herded there herding here then
there tied one to the scared
trembling here in the other

in’us self !throw’d bound !
there squeezed down in here!tight!
undulating notions surrounding and pounding!
rubbing titty nippled ‘rections
warming hardening there harder
‘gainst the hot protesting breathings
of lil’l round titties bare
scrotumed logs pinioned thronged
there wedged there bumping
in wet creviced rows ‘gainst
bare naked buttocks’ backs
who ‘cause they scared!all they scared
they all scared yearning home
in the thick sweating rushing
of hypnotic body odors

us fed feeding here feeding
on this what here in there swelling
lip twisted ‘round and ‘round
knotting ‘round in’us head
gnawing down on inside another on inside
this some other some ‘nother body self-ing
here swooning rhythmic enfoldings
of them dark fleshing walls

aboding dark mattering imploding on
through in the middle of this passing on
feeling ‘round in them borned forbidden things
spawning on in the holdings
of this swallowing dark womb

*think of gravitational lensing
Copyright © 2004 Asili Ya Nadhiri

collaging collagings (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

collaging collagings
(smearing-duh-ing) 

thick dark lips they strolling smug mugged
scared ofay ophidians jes desperationing
iberian populate’n cannibaliz’n politico
and the other hues clawing in between
they all leeching us all who’re sopped
’cause we sopping in here  just like them

‘round and ’round and on back on around
every one at the nother just like any other
holding on to the nipples  of abusing agenda
petrifying in the mouth  of legacy mongerers
so us aint feeling how this one size  fitting all
“!So What!mother Fucker!long as i git’n mine!!
aint this here the  Greatest  Greatest there is!!
so powder your nose  where the camera it on
and  just gone requisition   yo’ ownself some”
dastardly  scrabbled  by clamoring babblers
in doodaded stalls full of tird prosaic altars
and amended amens there amen’n aloudly
“this all like’it is cause dis how it all is-ing”
wearing our own  posturationing norms
tatoooos disguising our emptying arms
delusive porn of this invisiblin karma
aint no body screaming being heard
in the grand callousive numbing
of this mastur-a-bationing om

Copyright © 2012, 2014 Asili Ya Nadhiri

Carver Curbing (a tonal drawing written in poetic form)

**Carver Curbing

    coming slowly sitting there ones-by-ones
leaning ‘gainst the sides of this wall-less stall
monolithic in illustrious nefarious illusionings
they swaddling in a delusional mid-knightening
caressing the jaws of this carnivorous darkening

magnetic syrupy corners sticking sneaker-ing shoes
of elderless circlings hooching to a loquacious blues
plum lips sucking smoke as the gist of this tryst
all here so being there in a yondering no where
squat’n here scared roll’n’up in this rusing
spilling on into twilighting twilightenings
rapping so ‘cause they hearing no drums

 they spinning their tales of wanton plunderings
for filling emptying bags of a desperate longing
arrested in the mouthing of vicarious sunderings
so being any where there but here some where

 surreal enrapturing in knee-jerking vagaries
try’n to hide from the silence erase’n them here
in the addicting embouchure’ns embracing
here in this swallow’n womb

     each turned-out pocket is a notion seen’n small
but the fate of one flag is the same for us all
reaching out in a traitorous enthralling gall
vociferizing mesmerizing scandalizing too
camouflaging in the swooning of supposing foils

   they looking at one another for any other who
do’n a sump’n else so make’n them a special few
swirling in wondering scared of all alone
like most the rest of us here  we all doing too

 

**A large neighborhood served by Carver Middle School in Orlando, Florida                                         Copyright © 2014 Asili Ya Nadhiri