Anxiety and Things that Shatter

By Samuel A. Adeyemi

Anxiety and Things that Shatter is a collection of poetry about an endless journey through anxiety, pain and the process of healing.
The poems featured in this collection are a mix of traditional and spoken word poetry, all selected carefully from 2017 - 2019.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Samuel A. Adeyemi
• Release date: Jul 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463345481

Samuel A. Adeyemi

Samuel A. Adeyemi is a young writer from Nigeria. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Palette Poetry, Frontier Poetry, 580 Split, The Maine Review, Blue Marble Review, Leavings Lit Mag, Kissing Dynamite, The Shore, Jalada, and elsewhere. When he is not writing, he enjoys watching anime and listening to a variety of music. You may reach him on Twitter and Instagram @samuelpoetry

Book preview

Anxiety and Things that Shatter

By

Samuel Adeyemi

Copyright

Anxiety and Things that Shatter

By Samuel Adeyemi

Copyright 2019 Samuel Adeyemi

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"My anxiety is a high fever without a host--

it floats above my head

like a halo drenched in gasoline,

waiting for my tongue to strike the matchstick

and set fire to the steps and walls

of my mind."

Excerpt

And sometimes

It all arrives at once.

The anxiety, the fear,

The voices that scratch

Your confidence like

A chalkboard and somehow

All the oxygen in the room

Suddenly becomes water

And you begin to wonder if

You have what it takes

To grow gills. You wonder

If you can blend in with the fish.

You wonder if you

Will ever breathe again.

And the answer is

Not every building that shakes

Will collapse.

The answer is

Not everything that chips

Will crumble.

The answer is

This is temporary

And yes, you will.

--Rudy Francisco

Yes, from Helium.

I – ANXIETY

Anxiety/Shatter (0)

We stand apart,

casting stones

at each other's glass house.

Untitled I

Darling,

The trembling wind

Cannot blow away

Your tears tonight.

They too know

The colour of fear.

Accusations

Before you I mumble,

I am lost.

Before you these truthful words have no sonority.

Before you I question the certainty of my own innocence.

Before you, the proof of my transparency smoulders into ashes.

I’m in a dilemma of truth and lies,

but these lies have become conjuring truths before my eyes.

Even if my tears drip down and forge crystals

to pierce the quiet earth,

wouldn’t they be meaningless?

Your presence rids me of their perception of me.

You’ve created an alter ego of myself;

a fake reality that only you can see,

a reality I know does not exist,

a reality forged from nothingness.

Burnings

The spark, we can't see,

yet our flames burn in unison.

Neither do we see the fuel,

but our ignition is unrivaled.

You might be the sky above,

and I, the earth under,

but the atmosphere within trails our bonds.

We never cease from staring oppositely, nevertheless.

So vow to me your fire won't dwindle,

your clouds won't smoulder,

and your stars won't shed their light.

Even if you do, you'll still find solace

when you fall upon my skin.

But I'd rather gaze into your astral flame

than hold ashes of our love.

Dead Fires (Sad Memories)

The fire of burnt down bridges

takes the

Reviews for Anxiety and Things that Shatter

[hya · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

knowing that it came from a 17yo boy. i like it

[alka praus · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

it is,
just.
bad
made me realise.
something
i can't
tell

[jadatooprettyy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i love this so relatable i hope you stay connected to yourself and keep writing