The letter S

Solitude is the silence of self-love
and is slippery like silk.

Sin is when I pray “God protect me from what I want”
and I don’t mean it.

Sitting up straight with neutral spine and closed eyes
is one way to start meditating

still, strap your demons in ‘til you’re ready,
lest seventy more come knocking.

Superman is who I really am beneath all this Clark Kent
all this manliness, indecision and broken walls.

Sacrifice is learning when to be still in the wind
when to reel in the anchor, leave old shores and set sail.

Satyagraha is a Sanskrit word of resistance
it starts with unfurled fists and soul force.

Solstice is when the sun is highest or lowest,
and so, our seasons change.

I say a Salah on the Sabbath because
only God knows His saints.

Surely, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
anything else can stay far away.

70 on a 50

one handed
elbow rested
gold chain on the wrist
dripping,
thinking
I’m a king,
& throw a kiss
at myself in the rear-view

Spot me bro

in between bench presses and gangsta rap
men will fistbump and huff
then talk, talk in the way men talk
saying nothing
eventually a camaraderie develops
and soon you know who’s going through what
this guy does two hours of cardio five days a week
and sometimes strength on Sundays
he’s running from a divorce,
this bullish teen with raggedy breath
staggers round the punching bag
tired of being bullied he says
i teach him to breathe with his hits
like this, eesh eeessshh eeeeshhh in threes,
baldy with the rose tattoo calls himself a PT
but only trains blondes with tank tops,
retired officer with grey beard and cabled arms
admits having three daughters is tougher than catching criminals,
in between dumbbell lunges, this wiry man says
this is how I sweat away depression
and you can see happiness in his pores,
if men spotted each other like we do in the gym
my word, war will cease and men will live.