Caged Love: A Man’s Journey from Ego to Redemption

By Kemi Amusan

 

He can’t be vulnerable, it is forbidden

he can’t let go, that will be losing

in a world of Aries survival is for the fittest,

or so says the man whose land is cursed

he toils and he toils on Saturn’s vineyard

but thorns and thistles it yields for him

and the sweat of his brows he sips for drink

so is his fate when ego is king

He came by a spring called Orange in cancer

in a crimson pool under the moon

did bath a princess known as Eva

she spurred in him a rush of pleasure

in the heat of mania, he dipped with her

he sang with the birds and danced with the chimps

He pulled her by the waist and called her his soul

He probed her some and found her spot.

till morning came and he heard her cry

and her suitors outside calling for war

he killed them all and made her his

till she offered an apple that tugged his heart

in an Edenic genesis minute he knew her game

and a tension erupts deep down his psyche

he had tasted the fruit before, of that he was sure

It was the reason he had toiled, and toiled

the millennial aged bite had been his fall

he had loved her body and all between

but when it came to his heart, he drew the line

His rage inflamed he bounds her up

This is the man who caged his wife

a perpetual stiff who can’t come off his high

Her voice he stifled, her garden he trashed

the fishes that swam her groin he killed

the milk that flowed from her bosom he soured

till her womb grew thistles in place of roses

now for his sake her wells dry out

another earth that won’t yield for him

this is a man who has caused a wound

He arrives in taurus and her field of greens

but the once ripe land for him dries out

he recalled evenings of communion with gods

where beauty and meaning had been his lot

and the juice of the feminine did reign supreme

before the meats of essence became far between

before chaos and fear become his life

and his lush resources became scorched by life

Along came Helen of beauty and guile

she used to be strong but now was a spoil

in his groin she caused a stirring and, in his heart, she caused a thumping

a pretty woman like her will make a great toy

to strengthen a self, broken and lost

He joined a tournament where she was the prize

Her love to be won by the strongest of men

With each duel for her his love grew hot

With each victory he won he promised her more

then set his sails to win her war

but the man came far and all for nought

a thousand ship he lost at sea

for Helen’s heart is hers alone

And her heart she gave to a man of love

To avenge his hurt, he cursed her womb

Yet another earth that won’t yield for him

This is the man who has received a wound

 

Stranded and grave he is swept a shore

The Dothraki returns savaged and crushed

In Eva’s cave he reached for warmth

he felt for her but hit the wall

He raised the curtain and then he saw

Her face half gone her garment turned red

She had freed herself but not to safety

She had yielded to danger to awaken his guilt

For mangled she was by a wilding she lured

Another earth that won’t yield for him

 

He arrived in Gemini the land of tricks

Where wanderers like him told tales of gods

Lost to the mystery of truths and roots

his vile mouth betrayed a hardiness of heart

and bragged about the priestesses defiled

Ask for the mothers grace the twins did plead

But his masculinity under threat he killed them all

their tears in death did blind his eyes

And the agony of their fall increased his load

With the loudness of their wails haunting his sleep

Yet again the earth was cursed for him

Beside Eva’s corpse stood Mary the pure

In silence she screamed that he spilled his truth

Through her sealed lips her words roared high

Rebuffing his reasoning making small his mind

This is a man who has caused a wound

This is a man who has received a wound

This is a man who must carry his wound

He put a punch through, and bled his hand

Another earth that won’t yield for him

Now with his bleeding hand he lifts the corpse

like a demon in the light for all to see

Where he had once been praised now, was he shunned

He cries and cries to free his name

Eva’s lifeless body an accusation in his face

A host of women gather and sing

This is the man who caged his wife

Though strong in physique exhausted he is

torturous steps take him places but never to safety

Like an uncemented brick laid atop the other

he topples and falls alas, he breaks

 

Eve had opened in him the streams of feeling

so, he could bond with the warriors

But in his wrath, he caged her

How then might the earth yield for him

Helen had planted in him a garden of roses

It was the pleasure to access the courts of love

But she had fled and, in his hurt, he cursed her

how then might the wombs open for him

Mary unlocked his fount of knowledge

so, he could access the secrets of magic

but in his defeat, he hit her

how then might hearts open for him

There is a higher way yet he mocks the gods

there is a higher way, yet strive he must

To satisfy his craving he eats his flesh

another earth that will not yield for him

 

he steps into the flames his dead wife in hand

there and then did wisdom hit him

With the sparks of his shame did reckoning smite him

in the brightness, he faces his grief and lets out a cry

I am a man who has caused a wound

I am a man who has received a wound

I am a man who must carry my wound

I am a man who must heal my wound

I sold hard on toughness but now I break

 

in the thick of the fire, he grows his wings and a new voice speaks

opening up his spirit and lifting him off his feet

from the corpse of Eva, Sophia was born

up in the air he meets her glory

in favor of her love, he relinquishes his fears

to gain her wisdom he strips his ego

feeling the purity of her gaze he lets out a cry

in place of anger mercy arises

so that the earth might yield her kindness

in place of hurt comfort emerges

so, the womb might bear him her fruits

in place of defeat joy emerges

so that her magic may color his world

in place of judgment glory is born

so that the heavens might rain on his land

 

“An awakened man is a warrior of the heart. He calls to other conscious men to join the revolution, to lay down their ego, and with true masculine energy, demonstrate what it means to return to love.” ~ Daniel Nielsen