my nose sits on a stool

my nose used to sit on a stool

handcuffed

in the black of whiteness

big. elegant. wide as flamingo wings

the color of caramel chocolate cheesecake

daily my nose was beaten

battered with brown bats

swung by peers

swung by me

a piñata on my face

i learnt the strokes from them

they learnt from white spores

they inhaled

pumped into the air

for centuries

the color of lies

my nose was berated

by vicious voices

yellow with venom

meant to paralyze the spirit

the shimmering soul

swaying in the life light

like sunflowers

on a summery day

big nose johnny big nose johnny big nose johnny

big nose johnny big nose johnny big nose johnny

the phrase and its remixes

skipped through the speakers

of this prison

like lyrics from an old grisly cd

with lashings on its back

my nose longed for the cold grey

the sharp edge of tempered steel

fashion me something new!

my nose would cry

tears running from his nostrils

black mud on their feet

some clear

others orange

or green with grief

or pearl with pain

and then a creak from below!

from the pink door on the floor

its rickety hinges shuttered upward

slowly, like a geriatric

reaching for can goods atop a cupboard

in slithered a crowbar

invisible buds on its belly

it left a snail trail

as it snaked sideways

to reveal my lips

she smiled

a grin violet with mischief

a pirate’s grin

lips sauntered to nose

no need to rush

nose already dwelt decades

in this filth

why hurry this moment

lips took up my weathered nose

into her soft bosom

and on him placed a cocoa kiss

then hocked a loogie

and spit the old speaker silent

lips then cupped nose’s nostrils

and inside whispered

prints of escape in blue

you see lips had brought tidings

from eyes and ears

brain and touch too

o, the lessons they’d learnt!

in their travels

and to him

she shared

and then he saw

o, what he saw!

then the stool became a throne

an amber authority

ferried across bloodstreams

from African forebearers

and the handcuffs became heaven

bracelets comfy as clouds

that glistened gold

like fireflies on a night

when lucifer lies low

in ambush

a star was born!

and around him

a florid forcefield

appeared

an impervious nebula

finally

my nose perched proud

and he sent ravens

to hairline and height

they too were incarcerated

and in need of liberation

and then the prison

of self-loathing

of the white gaze

of the black embrace of that gaze

colorfully crumbled!

never to be seen again