#Askia Nasir Bilal

[askiabilal]

When the heavy dark leather wings of inspiration draws open over me I go looting for phrases

garbed in a cloak of daggers I’ve collected

From the bones of extinct pages

Torn quote for quote out of quote on quote “classic literature” condensed conveniently into cliff notes and

then I drift into smoke

I peer over the edges of bad romances and shudder and laugh like a voyeur and jot it all down on my clipboard

I’m a scavenger with an ear for the hypnotic cadence that the mundane holds in its deepest folds

I fine-comb the follies of my past like a forensic scientist looking for follicles of truth

I billy goats gruff the riff raff-- that makes great fodder

I grip the tuft of hair on the back of the scalp of despair and yank its sullen mug out of the abyss it floats in

all while nodding my head slowly saying “mmhmm”

I charade as a doctor and examine x rays to get a clearer idea of the underpinnings humans

Rubbing my chin with a furrowed brow

And when I submit my report to the committees they ask

“what is the meaning of this gibberish”

I sink into the polished marble floors

Slam my books close and storm off

And return with the great severed wings of phoenix stitched to the leather socks on my feet

#poetry #poem #Askia Nasir Bilal