Tomorrow

I had 24 hours left to write something that I could submit to Creative Futures’, a writing competition for poets and prose writers.

I ended up writing this poem and realising that it went way over the word limit that Creative Futures’ set.

I decided against editing the poem down to meet their requirements. I love this poem and the final stanza was unplanned, it is an ode to my close friend, big bro, and artistic inspiration, Ty. I’ve bolded all the song titles and italicised all his song lyrics I’ve weaved into the stanza.

Since Ty’s death, I’ve become aware of Soliheen, an early collaborator of Ty’s and he said something fitting about Ty and his passing:

“Ty had an incredible legacy and it’s on us to amplify his legacy.”

The weight of that subconsciously seeped into the final stanza and tied in with the theme of the poem “Tomorrow”. As I said in my last blog post “A New Perspective“, I am looking forward a lot more these days. The past is important, I continue to process it and heal from it, but I am now working in the present to build an incredible future. Enter my latest poem:

Tomorrow

Peer through a wormhole
Blink of an eye
Interstellar
Arrival
Formatted scripts only give a glimpse
Sci-fi like possibilities 
Lifetime neglect
Love left lacking
Heart yearns for a tomorrow drenched in love and acceptance

Gaslit past
Self-esteem burns at 451 Fahrenheit
Made in 1981
Swaddled in kerosene-soaked rags

Flash forward
Consent is a foreign concept
Trust betrayed
Innocence sullied
Mixologist blends neurodiversity 
Add a dash of lime
Ice optional
Blend
Deadly cocktail
Bitter after taste

Flashback
Failed cricket test

Flash forward
Cricket is communion
A people forever held back
Given respite through victory at Lords
Love gestates at home
Nervously I plan my future

Flash further forward
Pull pins from grenades
Walk away
A revolutionary act of self-love
More will follow

Flashback
A love of 35mm, 2-inch reels, and the word
Suppressed 
Self-love lacking
Decade long detour
Love rediscovered
No mean feat
Bread line diets can leave your spirit gaunt like

Present time
Love, ambition, hope
Quarantined but not secluded
Nurtured
Nursing the loss of an Awkward boy who told me to look Upwards
Studying his legacy
I edge Closer to a brighter tomorrow
Peering into the wormhole
I can see it
My stories travel far and wide
New youths
Enthralled by The Tale of a godfather now departed
The cycle of intergenerational trauma finally broken
A new cycle begins
My heart finally sings