semaokoko

[semaokoko]

Are you showering

Me with this kind of attention

Because you want something from me?

[semaokoko]

There is something really lovely

About a garden snail crawling on a green algae brick wall

Just after it has rained and the sun is coming up.

That simple action, to me, says,

You can all come out now.

It has stopped raining.

— It Has Stopped Raining.

[semaokoko]

There are fireflies lighting the hairless tubers on the ground

And playing games with whoever comes close.

A twinkle here, a twinkle there, they are gone.

Ten steps backwards, they appear.

— Hide And Seek.

[semaokoko]

There are gathered leaves under the lamppost

Just before you turn right and

See the street with one store.

The footprints I made while worrying

And fretting about the day are there.

And the smaller ones belong to the children

That gathered the leaves there.

— Under A Lamppost.

[semaokoko]

The back of an old note has your name

Written in writings that symbolizes the

Drawings of a cartoonish character.

And the designs I have doodled have

Never, once, surpassed a pencil or paper.

These two instruments, the pencil and paper,

Are what I have used to remember and re-live again

You and an old love each time I sit and regret

And think and wonder and compare and reason

How I could have lost it all.

— The Pencil And Paper.

[semaokoko]

The woman standing under the lamppost,

With footprints of snow all around her,

Makes me think of a painting I saw

— Snow in London, I think —

In a Japanese manga.

— Snow In London.

[semaokoko]

The sound of a twig I crushed while running

Sounded so much like the sound a snail's shell

Makes when it has been lost under one's foot

That I paused in mid-run and prayed it was

A twig I crushed and not what I thought it was.

— The Sound Of A Twig.

[semaokoko]

[semaokoko]

The front of the house has a warm glow

And the grasses are still stained with dew.

Standing beside the old bucket and worn-out rake,

I lean my hands on the rusty rail and

Try to enjoy the view after a rain.

— After A Rain.

[semaokoko]

I have long searched for a simple prayer.

One that can be said during a busy schedule.

A search showed a lot and many more

But none I saw seemed to contain the words

I wanted captured.

Jacob's Prayer,

The one he said at the place called Bethel —

After anointing his headstone of rest —

Seems to be the simplest

I have ever seen that can be recited

Anywhere and time.

And his words, so solemn and true,

Have now become a daily prayer

That captures everything — gratitude,

Thanksgiving, safety, and trust —

I have always wanted to say.

[semaokoko]

There's a small piece of paper

Just around the corner.

And when I turned to look and read

What was written, one called my name

As another screamed it was urgent.

So I went to pick the call that was,

In the end, unimportant

And returned to find it gone.

Maybe blown away or picked by another.

Whatever was on it, unknown.

— The Unknown.

[semaokoko]

I hate it;

The laughter that comes with failure.

In a friend's laughing eyes,

I see mockery and words of "I told you so,"

And feel deep hatred rise as I laugh at myself

For showing off poems I thought would gain approval.

— The Laughter That Comes With Failure

[semaokoko]

The two badly-scraped hearts

I saw while thinking of gold that

Brings Midas's touch to mind

Made me see beauty and

Appreciate the texture of wood.

— The Texture Of Wood.

[semaokoko]

I am taking a cup of stolen milk

With Cabin biscuit and reading a newspaper.

And I am thinking about an argument I had with

A friend about painting a room off-white or blue.

On the day of the colour argument I wrote,

Blue is a favorite color and no one should

Ever have a problem with it

Because every shade of blue is cool.

And every shade of blue is to be loved.

— Every Shade Of Blue.

[semaokoko]

I am eleven days late but, still, thank you Steve Wheeler and Wheelsong Poetry for selecting my poem After A Rain to be a part of your beautiful anthology.

The Wheelsong Poetry Anthology is out (since 28th of September), and available on Kindle and Amazon. The money from its purchase will be used to cater for the children affected by the Pakistan flood. Get your copy, enjoy the beautiful poems, and be a part of the Save the Children worldwide fund.

[semaokoko]

The two badly-scraped hearts

I saw while thinking of gold that

Brings Midas's touch to mind

Made me see beauty and

Appreciate the texture of wood.

— Sema Eno