Every Eight Seconds

by Chioma Okereke


Been coming
to the same conclusion
every eight seconds-
[Occasionally it takes me a while
to learn my lesson]-
[that] this is the LAST time
I recall images of the two of us
Seems inner visions like Stevie's
Been shifting my focus
off the real-
Now
A need to believe in something
         I can feel
Is greater than my thirst
    to be enveloped-
An impulse for self preservation
has led me to develop
A second thought process
That concerns itself with your being
So the rest of I can function
+    continue loving you
While leaving the light in my brain on-
But I must have underestimated
The agenda of my heart
Looks like my emotions
              and my reasoning
Weren't meant to be kept apart-
   Eight    seconds    passing
Hits like       Eternity
Planets have orbited the sun
+ babies been born more swiftly...
Seems [like] eight seconds
     be teasing me
   Stretching [themselves]
Beyond the realms-
of my imagination
+My body be battling [my] mind games
like a Sony play station-
Those eight seconds
      be having fun with me
I could decipher Chinese math
AND develop a universal language more quickly
Used to be-
ME    in control
I could keep it together-
But how quickly ladies unravel
When touched by certain fingers...
     [why]  Looks that linger
   had me     undressed
before unspoken suggestions
had me confessing
age old secrets
like a tired world- war criminal
I'd shed my skin before you
Made love on subliminal
Levels - sublime
Became visible to myself
for the very first time
Could look at my reflection
and recognise the face as [mine]
be lying if I didn't admit
you make my kidneys shift
from the get go-
  makes it all the harder letting go [now]
knowing
       it took so long
to make me feel this way

I'm praying for the day
Eight seconds passes
Like hours in your presence
Spent lifetimes in your arms
[That] when boiled down to their essence
Felt like instants-
   I need eight seconds
To die      before I've even thought
Of them beginning
I want to switch off auto-pilot
Grab the reins
And carry on living
  Demand    eight seconds to fade
At the rate of a sneeze
Want to remember your touch
Without buckling my knees
Please      allow these memories
Burnt on my eyelids
To let me go
I'm tortured by past images
On Dolby stereo-
      Been  coming
To the same conclusion
Every eight seconds
That my mind -not my heart
is your greatest weapon
as I spend       infinities
second guessing
myself-
seems I don't know me     anymore
I may be doing the dance
But you surely wrote the score
I'm walking in shadows blinkered
But even I cannot ignore
We weren't playing by my rules -
It's a       choice
That we all make-
What you give and what you take
And I should have paid
                more attention
Gave you all of me - and then some
Didn't notice what
I was getting until it was too late
Now I get molested every eight[seconds]
8 seconds masturbates in front of me
trying to weaken my resolve:
   that this is the last time I recall
images of the two of us-

inner visions like Stevie
be shifting my focus off the real
I need to believe in something I can feel
Not some figment of my imagination
Should buy myself a proper timepiece
Instead of a $10.00 Chinatown imitation
These past eight seconds
Have been the revelation
That I needed-
I'm drawing a conclusion
That need not be repeated:
This is the LAST time
I hit the playback button
Once this eight seconds
ends-
All will be forgotten....
This is    the LAST time
[that] I press rewind-
once these eight seconds are over
I'm leaving you behind
This is the LAST ...


Every Eight Seconds by Chioma Okereke

© Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied without the expressed written consent of the author.


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