Listless Louse
by
Iyan Igma
If she were my woman,
Then I’d sure hate to be a man.
I’d curse existence each day
And pray the devil to be her man.
If she were my woman,
Then I would have to run away
To find a nice psychopath
So I’d feel cherished everyday.
If she were my woman,
Then I’d have to burn down my house
And fake my death to be free
From such a loud, livid, listless louse.
Puerta Abierta
by
Iyan Igma
My heart has an open door,
Albeit, I wish I had a key,
So, if you desire to leave,
Go. You’ve never ceased to be free.
And if memories linger on
Like perfume, one day they’ll fade,
And a cool breeze will bring me
Some new scent which has strayed,
And while it will, I’ll enjoy
How the aroma flirts with my nose,
Being certain it won’t last,
For that’s the way love goes.
And then too soon a wayfaring lass
Will seek refuge from a driving storm,
And I’ll let her dry off inside,
Since my hearth is always warm.
Surely, she’ll go as you want to,
And I’ll try to remain staid,
Since there could be no love
If by force you had stayed.
A Taste of Freedom
by
Iyan Igma
A taste of freedom poisoned me,
For when I was safe in your clutches,
I was content with my estate,
Chained to the prison buttress.
And since my mind was polluted
And poisoned with your ecstasy,
At length you saw no harm
In letting me wander about free.
But then I discovered selfishness,
And the peace of the solitary.
Now I feel out of place with you,
Like dolphins in an estuary.
There’s so much more out there,
And limitations cause ennui;
To think, I would have stayed happy
If you had never set me free.
Amoral Forces
by
Iyan Igma
Much like a hurricane or tornado
Demolish indiscriminately
Without particular malice
For whoso their victims shall be,
Love and all its ravages
Are amoral forces, too.
Thus, despite my ache-song,
I can’t hold your actions against you.
Prostituted Destiny
by
Iyan Igma
We were never supposed to be,
But we prostituted destiny,
And such relationships do not last
Long after the transaction’s past,
So while we may desp’rately cling
To the error that made us something,
Sooner or later we must let go
Or our lives will remain hollow.
I can’t summon the words to express
The why and how of my heart’s emptiness,
But I know that you can sense it, too,
Like I can see the distance in you.
Emotional Alchemy
by
Iyan Igma
Pictures show me how I felt,
Which thing your presence can’t do.
Long ago you were electric,
But I wonder now, “Who are you?””
What did you do with my dear?
Or am I the one who morphed?
Is the tenderness I knew now gone,
Or has it somehow been dwarfed?
We had love once upon a time;
I never wanted to let it go.
Was it my neglect or your hormones?
Questions won’t bring back lost love, though.
But tell me, can we spare more pain
And rejuvenate what we have left?
Can we practice emotional alchemy,
Or must we be hithermore bereft?
Nature needs fire to burn away
The excess that strangles new growth.
Will you help me do a prescribed burn,
Or was our pledged love a wasted oath?
I hardly recognize you now,
And you might say the same of me.
You may blame it on the vines of time,
But blame won’t give love vitality.
Death’s Farthest Bend
by
Iyan Igma
If only I could look past hurt
And the barbs stuck in my eyes
And rediscover the wonder
Hidden beneath your wiles and lies
And find some recess in my mind
That could let love’s seed grow
Since we’ve both poisoned my heart
To the point that it’s now fallow,
Then, I could rejoice yet again
And be soothed at the touch of your hand
And not see you as a long lost friend
Slipping around death’s farthest bend!
