not cosmetics

naturally, i am handsome

beautiful

with no need for cosmetic

adornment

but by nature i am ugly

horrible

needing a systematic scrubbing

of my heart

henry victor          04.08.2018

health is my wealth

too much food

and all kinds of drink

alcoholic

brings me headache

also much sleepiness

i keep it away

i may have more health

and that’s my wealth

henry victor      01.01.2007

names and not titles

in the spirit i was lifted up

to see angels calling names

names after names

mentioning not a single title

as they opened that single gate

to heaven like the custom officer

letting passengers through

that single door

to an outgoing flight

the rest the angels

pushed them into hell

as if pushing empty cans

into the garbage

the dump

even if they had letters

that are official

in that port the only criterion

for entrance being

that which is real

the stamp on the conscience

henry victor      08.02.2007

futility

i saw in me a comical behavior

filling water in a leaking pot

and to this i added another routine

the task of faithful locking gates

for my yard, behind and front

with fine and secure padlocks

while the entire fence

of my enclosure had crumbled down

henry victor      14.05.2007

 

loads of love i did provide:

food, clothing, and security

i supplied in hefty quantity;

language skills and logic

i did not hide from her;

travel abroad and to towns afar

with exposure to beauty and beast

too was never in small amount;

yet i failed in my adventure

to instruct and inspire

my posterity in the path to success,

sitting in front of screen with my muse

i craft that crap, the broken line

calling it poetry to amuse

none but this silly self, the swine

indulging in miry excess

© henry victor                 07.08.2004

finding my true soul

perceptions leading to plenty

in my purse is to be worldly wise

and practical like the tractable

triumph i first sought much

while sacrificing my sympathy

to small, a single sheep that compels

a sacrifice of success, a  prosperity

for ninety-nine in the fold of safety

but that Nazarene seeking me

taught the folly of not tracking

the lost in whom is my true soul

also lost, waiting to be found

© henry victor     02.01.2004

towards my home

i discarded

my comfortable couch

the cot i snoozed

and my job in university

that provided

me greater security

before i began packing

to go

on my way

i learnt the need

to leave behind much

i had been hauling

dropping further

my academic gown

i secretly cherished

with pride

i then omitted

shaving my beard

with rhythmic regularity

also omitting

trimming and grooming

my hair  

that was of no use

for my journey

steadily ignoring

the lust of my flesh

feeding not

much my body thirsted

and hungered

after a little while like a python

constricting my mind

i continue slithering

henry victor     16.08.2003

Jesus, the Nazarene

when with joy and confidence shouting the name

Jesus, the Christ in small churches and tall cathedrals

marketing his name and brand, while others

advertising their  products to consumers in home

and far away in overseas, Jesus of Nazareth

the man who hung on the cross with loincloth

softly spoke to summon with tone

so temperate that one can hardly hear

to come and live with him, to see for my self

the birds that have nests and foxes that have holes

while he, the son of Mary, the Nazarene

had neither a place to live nor possession to protect

reminding me i have nothing to lose

neither any to market, nor to advertise

but only a cause to live, a life

to suffer pain to offer more for the little

© henry victor     26.01.2003

made-able

he is tall, and taller than me

fairer too, with a fatter purse

an allowance monthly, three

times mine, yet walking behind me

or alone, like a homeless beggar

about to fall on the road, hence

needing a stronger prop;

despite the schooling, the bigger

expense paid in full by the state

still he can neither count beans

nor make sense of the weed and wheat

in what he reads there on the slate

he can, for sure, see a dime on ground

even thirty feet ahead of him

but a sparrow on the fence front of him

always is black and will never be found

numbers dead and weapons of the world

war two, for sure, he knows it well, exact

facts and with assertive faith will proclaim

it too, but his potentials are a different world

© henry victor      22.08.2015

dashing and smashing

she like a bull in the china shop

dashed and broke every fragile glassware,
the familial values
together we accumulated and guarded
through our own trial and error
and with much pain to cherish, to build
that neatly arranged little nest, a home

she smashed all in a moment of fleeing

with no consideration except for her larger bed
that could accommodate a variety
calling it freedom and opportunity

smashing that beautiful home, the family

getting rid of the sacred responsibility
of the motherhood, that constantly demanded
a modeling, a witnessing
also to the emerging mothers

thus she dashed, smashed

her mother’s motherhood with her own
and that of her daughter’s

henry victor     19.07.2010