CONTEMPORARY FREE VERSE: THIS MAD MAN BY ABDULMALIK YAHYA (THE PUNSMITH)

Yesterday, I turned a swollen cheek

from all the blows of words

that carried away 

all the love I tugged.

Batter on battery,

I was robbed to run from a perfect pull.

“This mad man,”

beat to blue,

my blue sky muse.

At last!

Your path of a brightened darkness 

has levelled.

You gathered every shard of shade

you once left scattered 

like tiny lanterns,

still glowing with the stubbornness of sobriety.

Call me mad again,

for madness is the map I follow

to return to the muse of me.

If love is a bruise,

then let me 

lean to its colour,

let me learn the hidden softness 

in the pain of remembering.

For even wounded,

my heart still hikes

at the altar of tomorrow. 

Like a pilgrim of impossible devotion,

like a wanderer 

searching for a day after a forever

that once darkened my dawn.

“This mad man,” you said.

Yes, 

here I stand,

stitched by the longing eye of today,

clothed in the remnants of calm…

proof that even broken things

can rise

and be kings,

conquering the sky that made them blue.

And if loving is the sweetest madness I know,

then may this madness 

be my cure,

my calling,

my quiet truth

in the brightened dark

that leads me

back to me.

©️ ABDULMALIK YAHYA (THE PUNSMITH)

-Nigeria

"This Mad Man" is a powerful exploration of the speaker's journey through heartache, pain, and ultimately, self-discovery. The speaker's "madness" is a metaphor for their all-consuming love and passion, which has left them vulnerable to hurt and bruised by words. However, this pain has also become a catalyst for growth, as they learn to lean into the discomfort and find solarity in their emotions. The poem's imagery, such as the "swollen cheek" and "blue sky muse", is striking and evocative, conveying the speaker's emotional state. The speaker's declaration, "Call me mad again, for madness is the map I follow to return to the muse of me", is a testament to their resilience and determination to reclaim their identity and creativity. Ultimately, the poem is a celebration of the transformative power of love and the human spirit's capacity to heal and rise from adversity.