Lady Ice 

Keeping me in the dark, emotions
fail, a terminus point reached, and
subcontinent trivial murmur.

The poet glides as stealth, through
the catacombs, subterranean by
no fault; relic dawn and fading haze.

Mysterious union, mirrored souls,
dancing upon the lake of a forbidden
realm.

The flame will sway in her eyes, steal
away the frozen soul; lady ice living on
in a photo, the frame is shattered,

the heart forgets to hold down the beat.

Indecisive

The ravage of synthesis,

bone pearl night, glazed

bronze stars, phosphorus

and low mass, end of a

life cycle.

A symphony of love,

unleashed into the

wilderness, graveyard

in ruins, a druid palace

in mock prayer.

Wounded heart river,

hyperactive racoons,

conductor of their own

oblivious domain, a fox

crosses their way, the

world at large, completes

its slide; into madness.

The creative writings of Wayne Russell have been widely published over the years, The Cannon’s Mouth, Screech Owl, The Monterey Poetry Review, and Poets’ Espresso Review, are some of the magazines in which he has been published. Waynes first collection of poetry, Where Angels Fear, was published by Guarilia Genius Press in 2020; it can be purchased via Amazon.

Curse

Dark thoughts tickle
Within my brains
And my words trickle
From my veins
Until only emptiness remains.
Runes building poetry
Under pooled ink.
Words become a mystery
On sanity's brink;
I could cross if I dare blink.
My pen leaving craters;
Page upon page.
My words are traitors
To my rage.
These lines build my cage.
My nightmare breathes
With every verse
While my heart wreaths
Under my own curse
And the pain is growing worse.



Far Off Doors

Failure is the only thing I've succeeded.
I'm good at getting lost on the way.
Not seeing that you were all I needed,
While nothing could get me to stay.
Still nothing could fill the void left behind.
The emptiness is a painful longing.
Hiraeth in my heart; tormenting my mind.
Wanton of a paradise without belonging.
My soul haunts those forgotten halls
While my body walks along other shores.
My taunted heart screaming silent calls
That wish to knock on those far off doors.

From South-Western Michigan, Jerry Langdon lives in Germany since the early 90's. He is an Artist and Poet. His works bathe in a darker side of emotion and fantasy. He has released five books of Poetry titled "Temperate Darkness an Behind the Twilight Veil", “Death and other cold things” “Rollercoaster Heart” and “Frosted Dreams” Jerry is also the editor and publisher of the literary magazine Raven Cage Zine poetry and prose. His poetic inspirations are derived from poets such as Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. As well as from various Rock Bands. His apparently twisted mind, twists and intertwines fantasy with reality.

over half your life

looking out the window

thinking of all the women

you have let down or never

had the chance to let down

loneliness is realizing you

have lived over half your

life and can’t remember

the last time you kissed

a woman and it meant

something

even worse, you can’t

imagine that changing

anytime soon

———————————————————————

look around

if you take a moment

and look around and

realize you’re in the

middle of a bob ross

painting

life isn’t that fucking

bad after all

———————————————————————

like a pair of comfortable shoes

she never tells you she loves you

takes it for granted like a pair of

comfortable shoes

eventually, you will grow apart

find your comfort in the arms

of an easy woman on the east

side of town

all in the hopes that someone

will get jealous and realize

her error

years later now, and she never

has

never even wished you the

best of luck

tells you to lay in the bed

you made

no time for the argument

she thanks you for letting

her go when she needed

you the most

two souls that don’t know

how to communicate will

always come to the same

solution

learn and let the new love

reap the benefits

no use being bitter for

the rest of time

———————————————–

hungry for love

an old soul

that the world

has left behind

hungry for love

but the long line

hasn’t moved

in years

at this rate

it is becoming

more and more

clear dying alone

is the most likely

conclusion coming

of course, the

lottery could pay

for a companion

though luck doesn’t

often work that way

————————————————-

squeeze a few poems out

we’re back to the old routine

of a medical facility waiting

room a few times each week

now

gives me a chance to squeeze

a few poems out

maybe do a little people

watching

hell, maybe even dust off

the imagination and take

it back out for a spin

the world continues to spin

off the axis

yet all the people i know

keep chugging along

of course, it ain’t exactly

living

but only the rich can do

that anymore these days

I am alive

Please don’t say me dead
I am still alive after death
I am living in the pages of history
In the laughter of a child’s mystery
I have conquered death of time
Now everything is mine
Look my face in the Flag
Everyday I rise with the rising sun
Every night I gossip with the stars
I fly  in the belief of patriots
And the hope of new generation
Every moment l listen your heartbeat
I hear what your tongue utter
I am not worried about my life
That I gave in the Liberation War
See, me, I am always with your prayer.
I am always with the feeling of crore
Death has nothing to do
I am over death
I’m still alive
And I will be alive generation after generation.

Midnight Soul and Hay Meadow Heart 

Night comes creeping softly 
Like a ghost descending the stairs 
Dragging reluctant shadows behind it 
With a dark beauty that mystifies reality; 
Flooding my being with midnight skies 
And lining the walls of my soul 
With planets, suns, orbiting moons, swirling 
Nebulas and covering the Sistine ceiling of my soul 
With the layers of a million Milky Ways. 
My super-conscious is a blackness 
Lighted by a billion twinkling stars. 
There is just room enough left in my psyche 
To fill each crevice with the scent of new mown hay 
And the site of the burgeoning meadows of home 
Over-flowing the memory banks of my heart. 


When Tomorrow Has Flown
 
When tomorrow has flown 
Into future memories 
Where will love be then; 
Still strong between us? 
Will your mind burn 
With indelible images of me 
Swirling just below instant recall? 
Will your heart still ache 
From the memory of my touch? 
Will my undying words of love 
Still echo in your chambered soul 
When tomorrow has flown? 
Love does not seek assurances; 
It lives or dies within a dream. 
Within the soul of yesterday 
Love comes naked and barefooted; 
A deep passionate flame 
Burning in the wonder-filled darkness 
Where twin souls are melded by time. 
We are alive on sacred promises 
And the murmuring madness 
That comes whispering through time 
To bind us soul in soul, as one. 

Annie Johnson is 84 years old. She is Shawnee Native American. She has published two, six hundred-page novels and six books of poetry. Annie has won several poetry awards from world poetry organizations including; World Union of Poets; she is a member of World Nations Writers Union; has received the World Institute for Peace award; the World Laureate of Literature from World Nations Writers Union and The William Shakespeare Poetry Award. She received a Certificate and Medal in recognition of the highest literature from International Literary Union for the year 2020, from Ayad Al Baldawi, President of the International Literary Union. She has three children, two grandchildren, and two sons-in-law. Annie played a flute in the Butler University Symphony. She still plays her flute.

Nigeria, the so-called ‘giant of Africa ‘ is fast becoming a shadow of itself. From the pinnacle of relevance as being the most populous black nation in the world to a land endowed with enormous human and natural resources, the country is loosing its highly magnified framework of international and global recognition. 

October 1 1960 birthed a nation that would be known to be home to the highest concentration of black people in the world. Known for its enormous resources, each regions at the time survived independently through the instrumentality of viable and sustaining agriculture. The Eastern region was known for the abundant production of palm oil and other related derivatives. Cocoa was an export crop produced in the western region and the famous groundnut pyramid was the symbol of the food strength of the northern region. Together, Nigeria prospered economically.. The political sagacity and geniuses of the Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the Western region, late M.I Okpara of the Eastern region and Sir Ahmadu Bello of the Northern region ensured peaceful co-existence as they independently mapped out posterity-driven strategies to make their respective regions peculiar. Consequently, Nigeria, before the coup in 1966 and Civil War of 1967-1970, was one of the best nations to visit from anywhere in the world!

Unfortunately, the discovery of oil was the commencement of what would epitomize the decline of the viable economy. There was a subsequent shift of focus from Agriculture to oil. The 70s saw the emergence of oil gradually taking its stance as the main-stay of the Nigerian economy. The oil boom of the 80s had the Nigerian attention completely focused on the oil sector. A mega-business it was and fast growing, the politicization soon crept in. Before eyes could bleak, corruption was the developing cancer whose anomalous spread affected other sectors of the economy. Hence, making difficult foreign investment to thrive in Nigeria.

As more multi-national companies begin to contemplate leaving the once-prospering economy, the following are reasons their decisions to leave Nigeria would see the light of day

Irregular Power Supply: Nigeria is own to be the parent supplier of the power to neighbouring countries as Ghana, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Benin Republic and Togo. But it’s ironic these countries experience steady power supply whereas it’s just the exact opposite in Nigeria! Most of these corporations spend on petrol and other alternative power sources astronomical amount of money to keep business operations running. The recurrent deficits make many foreign companies check out of Nigeria to even other countries like Ghana due to power issues. A typical example is Michelin Tires. They shut down operations in Nigeria to set up a base in Ghana due to the incessant power instability in Nigeria.

Unhealthy Political Interference

There is hardly no business set up emerging in Nigeria that would absorb one form of political interference or the other which would pose dents on the technocratic integrity and affirmative philosophy of business establishments. With that in place, private investors would have to cough out certain money to grease the palms of politicians who would use their cronies to disrupt the smooth-running of businesses run by private investors through heavy taxes and unnecessary impositions on company expenditure. If the said company complies to the status quo, service delivery would be affected and quality of products may not commensurate with consumer’s satisfaction. In addition, to recoup the expenses, consumers are being charged exorbitant prices which is actually a counter-productive one! 

Security tensions

The ‘grey-area’ security architecture in Nigeria creates a topsy turvy has created clap-backs by established private investors in the country. The almost-collapsed security system in the country has paved way for several terrorist groups constituting cataclysmic aftermaths to individuals and businesses. With the dreaded Boko Haram, threatening Herdsmen, notorious Miyati Allah, masquerading Unknown gunmen and mean kidnappers destructively interfering the security structure in the North-East, North-West, North-Central, South-South, South-West , South-South and South-East geo-political zones, Nigeria is one of one that nations of the world on the Terrorist Watchlist. That alone makes it unsafe of foreign investment to thrive in the country.