Tag: Creative Writing

Forged In Fire

For steel to strengthen, it must first be immersed in the hottest flame.

The strength of a man is forged the same.

The Phoenix rises from the ashes bearing no name, a slate with no stain – nothing left to lose, everything to gain.

Innocent beginnings and excruciating endings. Lessons learned the hardest way. Hard lessons created the man you see today, and inspired him to find his own way like a battle-tested soldier.

What hurts, but does not kill you only makes you colder. It raises the limit of the weight you’re able to carry on your shoulder.

Because of that, I’m bolder in the sense that no thing can fear me. You can feel confidence radiating when you stand near me. At this point a cast iron pan couldn’t even seer me because I’ve been initiated — far from my final form but I’m ascending to a top-tier me.

No longer aimlessly pursuing. Instead, cultivating my mind is what I’m doing. And I’ve grown to appreciate the pain I feel from the flame

Because it reminds me that I’m still human.

Q. A.

Aiktimal Alqamar

When you appear, I have no worry.

I am at endless ease.

Your luminescent glow is the remedy for any cortisol within me.

Your presence universally fulfills, as evidenced by how the ocean tide swells.

While your absence conspicuously creates an abyss of emptiness.

Dark nights are not the same without you.

Q. A.

Untitled

It’s such a small world,
But it’s an even shorter life,
And there’s no universal way to live it wrong or right.
Look out for you.
Of yourself, never lose sight.
Keep your head to the sky even when sunny days turn into dark nights.
For when it’s most dark, the stars shine most bright.
Never let the world’s shadow dim your life’s light.

Q.A.

Thinking Out Loud

There are so many flawed ideologies floating around on social media telling people when to give up on their relationships, what to look for in a person or what constitutes a “toxic” partner or relationship… No one is perfect. No two situations, loves, or connections are identical. Nobody is going to do everything right. Every human, including yourself, is deserving of second chances under non egregious circumstances. All relationships, all bonds will have static. They will have rocky moments. But at the end of the day, all you can ask for in this life out of a person is to respect you, support you, stand by your side, weather any storms you may encounter, and fight for you as you fight for them. Stop trying to find the perfect person, they don’t exist. Instead, try to find the person that will love you unconditionally and never give up on you. Life isn’t about finding what’s perfect because everything in life has flaws. It’s more so about finding what’s worth it and holding on to it.

Q.A.

Keep Going

People say they want this and that, but never what they are willing to go through in order to get it. They like the thought of having it. Or they may like the way it looks, so they think they want it… but they don’t really want it.
They’re not willing to put in the actual work it takes to get it or to keep it. The persistent, incessant effort required to keep going and stay committed through all the good and bad…

What’s real isn’t easy, and what’s easy isn’t real. If obtaining wealth was easy, everyone would be billionaires. If maintaining health was easy, everyone would run 4 minute miles. If relationships were easy, love would be an endless sunny day at the beach…

Everyone claims to want those things. But the real version of those things doesn’t come easy because they are real things that require patience, persistence and endurance. They are things that people typically prefer to look for shortcuts with, instead of fighting through the muddy trenches to reach the desired finish line the organic way: out the mud, through the mud. That is what separates what is concrete and long lasting from what is here today, and gone tomorrow…

Success doesn’t happen overnight. But if you put in the required effort, roll with the punches, and keep pushing through… one day it just might.

Q.A.

Gotham

The heart of the city.

I once controlled the rhythm of the beat.

When the days turned dark,

Your spotlight shined bright in the sky.

I would drop everything

With no reason as to why.

I’d run to you, and if I had wings I’d fly

As fast as I could because for this city

I’d might even die.

Your conspicuous vigilante

Always there to save the day.

To wash away and decimate all dismay.

Rain poured, thunder growled in a vicious rage

And my cape was in the wind

Knowing there would be no wage paid.

Just peace of mind knowing my city was safe

From the thought and feeling

Of stress and no escape.

Now the sands of time have washed this city away,

Yet I still can’t convince myself that I shouldn’t stay.

What was once in order, now in total disarray.

With only me left with a balance to pay.

The price of wasted time and irrational effort.

Misplaced devotion, an unsuccessful endeavor.

Energy that could’ve been invested

In a less temporary treasure.

None of my actions were driven by pleasure,

But by the dream of this city lasting forever.

However, nothing lasts. To believe otherwise is silly.

Still, it hurts to know that there is no more love

In the heart of this city.

Q.A.

Seeds

Back and forth along life’s course…

I find myself lost again.

Searching for answers in a forest filled with weeds

Hoping to stumble upon fruitful seeds.

Or maybe, they will eventually find me.

But for the time being, I’m wondering what your mind sees.

Pondering what image of me you perceive.

The picture of perfection is what human desire brings,

But we both know those are merely a child’s dreams.

It’s no secret, my queen… I am covered with blemish like a hound with fleas.

Which makes me wonder: Am I really what a bride needs?

To be immersed in loneliness even when I’m right by your side?

The uncertainty of how to handle your silent cries will be my demise.

But I hear you, baby…

It’s just sometimes the noise in this forest drives me crazy.

Numb to what’s in front of my own 2 eyes.

Aware of what’s there,

Only to never have enough time to take an honest peak.

Instead, I’m too busy looking down at my size 10 feet.

Wondering how these dogs are able to support such a mess.

Never prepared for any of life’s tests.

Always attempting my best but to no avail,

Never failing to yield to stress.

The story of the young, Black American male

Through trial and error walking life’s trail.

Strikes tallied up prior to leaving the womb.

Systematically predestined for prison or an early tomb…

Fed a fairytale since elementary

About the benefits of school.

And if you get good grades, it’ll pay off soon.

But the only paying off I see

Is the debt toll from living the Rat Race American Dream…

Still. I search for answers through this wretched forest.

Feeling somewhat of a misguided tourist in a foreign land.

What’s worse is I don’t think anyone understands

What it feels like to be treated as just another grain of sand…

If this forest were a beach, I’d plant my feet, stand,

And feel the breeze graze my face with opened hands.

I close my eyes again and imagine what your mind sees.

While walking life’s course, in search of fruitful seeds.