Words Breathe… Words Live!
The below work under “Breath & Words”are selections from my ongoing compilation of a book of poems and short stories I hope to publish once complete. All of these works are original and I selected these to showcase the ability to express creativity and evoke emotions through the use of written words and visual representation.
Toyin Salau
As a Black woman, my non negotiable Is a roof over my head
The last time one of us missed this,We found her… dead!
— Image by @Spicebae_IG
Anomaly
What if abnormalities were normal and normal abnormal
What if the men were women and women, men What if the center of the world was not in the middle
And the sun revolved around the earth instead What if we all floated and to be grounded was an anomaly
What if love of any kind was unquestioned and not dictated
What if Black people were never taken and slavery never happened
What if we could all be happy
Have you ever wondered what kind of world that would be?
I wonder
— Image by Tess @tesswilcox
Facts
When you’ve been through life, there are two persons you can become.
An asshole or a compassionate soul.
— Image by Envato Elements
Desire
Close your eyes and wake up to a quiet world.
The sound of nothing but breath mixed with fresh air.
It’ll end very soon, It’ll all just be.
Everything your cries evoked, wished upon and hoped for
Or it might be better than you imagined
Whatever direction it goes will however be because you failed to fail
Even when it got unbearably painful
You crawled yourself out of the cradle.
For that alone, it’ll be all you ever imagined it could be
— Image by Ian Stauffer @ianstauffer
Intercession
Say a prayer for me because I’m too tired to say the words
Say a prayer for me because my tears have emptied out their buckets
— Image by Jakayla Toney @jakaylatoney
Does Heaven Know?
You only quit on the things that you don't love
If you love something, you don't quit it
You may free it, but you don't quit it
The trees sing this song over and over again and again and over again
To loose their leaves only to grow them back
They know of loss, gain and loss again
They know to love is to set free their leaves
So pray tell, what do the heavens know?
What did they ever lose?
Perhaps the tears they share with the world?
— Image by Jakayla Toney @jakaylatoney
Fear
Every waking breathe contradicts itself,
Thankful for life’s blessings…
But unsure because anything can happen.
They say if you work hard enough you’ll get it
But we’ve seen people work till it killed them
Though our souls may not be weary,
And pardon these words if they feel insulting,
Life happens once and we ought to live fully.
But the fact lies, there is still fear
In you, him, her, zhe & me
— Image by Aarón Blanco@healing_photographer
Complete
Paint the clouds with a brush dipped in your tears my love
Paint the birds and clouds gray as your breaking heart
Draw the withering trees with your dampened soul,
Trees so old, their bitter snickering of agelessness can be heard
With the rustling is their leafless branches
Paint the clouds with your tears my love
Drain yourself of this beautiful mess
But know though a heart breaks, it rarely is fine China.
It will mend itself again
It will grow out limbs...
Take a thread and needle to itself
And painfully whip stitch itself back to completion
-Image by Ian Kiragu @Kiragu