I’m Darling

Emmanuel

Yes I’m

Emmanuel,

Darling

I just ooze

Passion

I must be

Amour

Incarnate

Life

Is a movie

A drama

I star in

As a leading

Actor

Like Marlon

Pardon

The arrogance

But hyperboles

Are a part

Of my

Parlance

You might wonder

Who or what

Influences

My art?

I could

Name a few

The avant-garde

Duchamp

Doora Maar

Debussy’s La Mer

Da Vinci’s

Lady with Ermine

Or even this

Introduction

To my site

At 1’oclock

In the night

I created

This version

I know

Whether

Good or bad

Things will

Always

Be berated

Critics always

Have something

To say

In the form of

Verbal grenades

And tirades

Aimed

At a person:

“Ugh!

I think he’s fake

Or maybe he’s gay!

The way he is

So damn feminine

Could it be he isn’t

Called Emmanuel?

Perhaps his name

Could

Be Emmeline?

Emily or a Melanie?”

“Maybe he’s

Just ugly

With the face

Of a rat

Bringing us the

Black plague, again

Away with

This vermin!

I mean, there’s

No tellin’

What he is

Maybe he wears

Maybelline

Eyeshade and

Extensions

How can we tell

If he is a man?

There’s not

Even a selfie

On his Instagram!

He says he’s black

Blacker than

Scheveningen

Imaginary melanin

He’s a racist

For certain!

His poems

Are original

But are lacking

In grace

And in elegance

Plus why is he

Trying to be

Romantic?

Doesn’t he know

That type

Of poetry’s

Outdated,

Irrelevant?”

Ignore the critics

You be the judge

If there’s

Real worth

In my work

Maybe

You’ll love it

Or hate it

With vehemence

Either way

Whether

Negative

Or positive

You’ll get

Something

For free

There’s many

Jewels

That once

Were sunken

But emerged

Through

Discovery

They’ve been

Brought up

From the deep

And are now

Offered

For consumption

They’re

Nourishment

Which you can

Feed on

As a tender

Suckling

Then prepare…

To experience

Your own

Wonderous

Re-birth