In this moment,
At this crucial junction
Words fail me.
All the letters and syllables form, bubble and boil
Fueled by the roiling cross-current of emotions
Vacillating within from my innermost where they uncoil
Angry,
Upset,
Morose,
Inconsolable,
Frustrated,
Sad,
Pitiful…
But mostly sad
Mostly…

In this moment
At this crucial junction
Emotions fail me.
Each consumed with consuming each other
While the gentler ones try to fade to the background
Away from the cacophony
Created by a few simple words your lips air-mailed to me
And those letters, those syllables
Sparked off a storm of such magnitude as to leave me in a state of
Unanimated
Uninspired
Unproductive
Unresponsive
Non-creative state of barely existing.

In this moment
At this crucial junction
I fail me
I stand, I sit, I lie
I kneel on one knee waiting….
Waiting to see if the other knee will drop to match my slowly hanging
Head in defeat.
The wall that I’d meticulously laboured to bring down
Is slowly being rebuilt.
Not with the purpose of shutting me out,
But rather to keep you in
And the window that you placed there,
I recall fondly,
As the first ever break in that fortress solely for me.
So you could hear my love song in poetry
Played out over your soul’s melody
Doesn’t even appear
You’re rebuilding with care, slowly
Because you still want what should have been, to be

A love steeped in music of long walks
Of sniffs and sniffs
And sister, honey girls
Do you remember?

A love formed of friendship
Solidified in that there were a lot of firsts between we two

This too bring happy thoughts
And thoughts not just of love but of desire
To hell with a spark we had a fire,
Damn near an inferno,
Flaring to life every time either walked into a room
Eyes meeting with warmth like long lost mates
And I would smell you
Nesting the scent that would make me drown in you
And you in me
As I pluck the strings of your lifebeat
Your heartbeat pacing your flood
As sour souls meet
With sweat
And heat
Till my very last drip
And you revel in that you have done,
And have gotten what no other woman
Have or ever will…

But still…

In this moment
At this crucial junction….

---

Glen’s testimonial

I love words; I’m in love with metaphors. I have a hyper active imagination and unquenchable desire for freedom and expression. All of these factors coming into play is what eventually set me on a path to writing. I’ve never seen myself as a poet nor as a writer, I’m just one who is happy bringing to life my minds creations and concoctions.  To be honest, in the past, during my first 3 years of secondary school I hated poetry. I thought it too rigid, too stuffy, too predictable. I stuck solely with short stories, weaving tales during Break periods for the entertainment of my friends. But it wasn’t until I made a simple discovery that, a poem doesn’t need to rhyme for it to be a poem, that the attraction began and it bloomed when I started writing lyrics which introduced me to metaphors in a very real way.

I really took to poetry later on when I started seriously feeling the need to express myself as I began feeling like a glass bottle under pressure. Reasons for writing began popping up all over the place and I became a conduit of sorts, just channeling these thoughts, ideas and emotions. As I got more and more involved with various literary programs and activities through Best of Books I got deeper into the world of writing. it gave me opportunities to grow and evolve and find my voice. Attending poetry events such as Wadadli Pen Open Mic and Expressions gave me opportunities to hear the different voices of our people and be inspired and creative time and again.

Persons who inspire me: Dr. Althea Prince, who said ‘Suspend Disbelief’ and ‘No writing is wrong’ followed by Joanne Hillhouse and Brenda Lee Brown who reinforced those selfsame words and Barbara Arrindell.

Why do I write? I write for me. It’s my therapy, my escape, my voice. Its my manifestation of my share of the God element residing in us all.

Glen’s Bio

Glen J. A. Toussaint was born in Newtown, Commonwealth of Dominica on December 8^th 1982, and has attended Dominica Grammar School and the Antigua State College. He has lived most of his life between Antigua and Dominica, and taught Principles of Accounts, Spanish, and English A as a high school teacher for four years in Antigua. He is presently employed at the Best of Books Bookstore where he has helped to organize quite a few literary activities and programmes like weekly story time with children and a monthly spoken word and poetry event, 'Wadadli Pen Open Mic'. Glen enjoys reading, writing, music, art, chess and video games. He is currently learning Japanese and is a big fan of Japanese Manga and animation. He is always up for a good discussion and his main goal is to simply develop further as a poet and writer. Glen is a profound performer and a regular at Expressions: Poetry In The Pub, and is well known for his freestyle skills and ‘spirit of chupitness’. Read more of Glen’s thoughts at hi blog www.rastamage.blogspot.com.

'The Expressionist' is a 365antigua.com literary arts collaboration with August Rush Productions, and is a forum to highlight the work of Expressions: Poetry in the Pub members. In order to be eligible for consideration as a featured poet, you must be a member of the Expressions Facebook page and a regular performer at the popular open mic nights, which is held at Heavenly Java 2 Go every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday in the month.

The Expressionist 365 Antigua page will be updated with new content twice monthly; the day before every ‘Poetry in the Pub’ night. Poets that meet the requirements that are interested in having their work featured on the site can email augustrush.antigua@gmail.com for more information.

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The author/poet reserves ALL rights to the poems published on 365antigua.com. No part of these poems may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.