“MAY DAY” A POEM READ AT LOUDTHOTZ POETRY OPEN READING SEASON 3 EPISODE 3 BY OLARENWAJU KAKA

May Day

At the drop of blood,                                                                                                                          right before a dream lifts from its axis,                                                                                                                                                                      a boxer rises from the canvas                                                                                                                              empting  heart in glove;                                                                                                                                         Iike a surgeon into a writer                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Pressed down on a pen                                                                                                                                      Like an artery pumping words

The first time these words were felt,                                                                                                                                   I held a rope to heart,                                                                                                                                                 held  it                                                                                                                                                                  Calmed the air and Tugged hard:                                                                                                                                Not like a dog,                                                                                                                                                               More like a horse                                                                                                                                                       Till my world came to a full stop

On the 1^st of July,                                                                                                                                                            the anchors finally broke                                                                                                                                             And reinforcements had to be brought in                                                                                                              And after almost months on a shipwreck,                                                                                                                      The revolutions finally ended                                                                                                                                   Killing off every cupid                                                                                                                                             and murdering every contrary thot in cold blood

  By  night fall,  it was done                                                                                                                                                                                     I had created a monstered knight:                                                                                                                                                 no queen on board                                                                                                                                               Blocking out all tunnel vision                                                                                                                                 Erasing every file                                                                                                                                                 Scrubbing out every floor,                                                                                                                                         Every outlet, every vent, and every cell                                                                                                                 Until my heart was blank:                                                                                                                                            A spotless fortress to nothing                                                                                                                       Maximum secured, a silencer to all

Then one night                                                                                                                                                                10 years into a marriage                                                                                                                                                  I got a call                                                                                                                                                                      And all froze                                                                                                                                                                         I froze                                                                                                                                                                       Paused in an inception                                                                                                                                          I heard her voice again                                                                                                                                               And in that moment                                                                                                                                                I lost the war,

KAKA