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Poetry by Rowan Evans

Tag: experimental poetry

  • Back to Darkseid — A Poem About Chaos, Identity, and the Mind

    Rowan Evans

    Author’s Note

    This poem started as play.

    I wasn’t trying to be deep or careful — I was letting my brain sprint, letting pop culture, mythology, and intrusive thoughts collide on the page. Comics, villains, alter egos, masks — all the familiar metaphors we use when our minds feel too loud to live in quietly.

    What surprised me wasn’t the darkness, but the balance. This isn’t a descent — it’s a return with awareness. Standing in the light doesn’t mean pretending the shadows don’t exist. It means no longer fearing them.

    This is what it feels like when poetry stops being a tool and starts being a force — when the ink takes over, and you let it.

    Surreal illustration of a figure in shadow with ink tendrils rising up their spine, symbolizing chaos, identity, and creative obsession.
    Where chaos, identity, and ink collide.

    Back to Darkseid
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    I walk in,
    ready to rock
    like a shock
    to the system.

    Watch me
    ghost ride the whip,
    hit you with the
    penance stare.

    Watch as you become
    hyper aware
    of every misdeed,
    and every sin seeps
    into the veins.

    It circulates
    until it hits
    the brain.

    Lights out.

    Silence.

    My noggin’s
    an asylum,
    I’m sick in the head.
    Coin flip of fate,
    I’m two-faced
    with my joker’s thoughts.

    I’m a dark knight,
    on a dark night—
    fighting the monsters
    that my mind creates.

    Don’t try to figure me out.
    I’m an enigma, a riddle
    with no answer.

    A twisted harlequin
    in a garden
    made by Ivy.
    Each petal unfurls,
    guiding—
    leading me back
    from the edge.

    Now I’m standing in the light,
    back to Darkseid—
    I no longer fear
    Apocalypse.

    Watch my ink
    twist into tendrils.
    Watch as they
    wrap around,
    and creep up
    my spine like venom.
    Watch as poetry
    slowly,
    takes over
    my mind.

    If you’re interested in more poetry, you can find it here → [The Library of Ashes]

  • Slim & Shady II: Shadows & Laughter | Playful Poetry by Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans

    Author’s Note

    Slim & Shady II is a playful experiment—a lyrical playground where wordplay, rhythm, and mischief collide. While much of my work dwells in the sacred darkness of Neo-Gothic Confessional Romanticism, this piece leans into cadence, puns, and clever twists inspired by the craft and energy of artists like Eminem and Ez Mil.

    Here, the voice is extroverted, daring, and mischievous—turning language itself into both playground and weapon. Each line is a deliberate play of shadow and light, a balance of humor and darkness, echoing the parts of me that delight in the chaos, the riddles, and the audacious joy of words.

    Shadows & Laughter nods to the duality I carry within my work: the intimate intensity of emotion, and the exuberant, witty, irreverent self that refuses to be confined. This poem is my invitation to step inside the game, to follow the twists of rhyme, and to let mischief, laughter, and the thrill of language guide you.

    Shadowy figure with a playful grin holding a microphone, surrounded by swirling letters and musical notes, symbolizing the mischief and rhythm of Slim & Shady II: Shadows & Laughter.
    Channeling chaos, rhythm, and mischief—Slim & Shady II: Shadows & Laughter by Rowan Evans.

    Slim & Shady II: Shadows & Laughter
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    I’m slim, baby, got room to grow—
    If you stick in the shadows, the light I’ll show.
    Bars in my pocket, but my heart on display—
    I’ll twist your mind like a cipher, then slip away.

    I lace the lines with mischief, twist the words like springs,
    Jokes in the margins, hidden meanings in the rings.
    Microphone magician, syllables combust,
    Every pun a spark, every rhyme a must.

    Check the cadence—flip it, spin it, ride the beat,
    Tongue-tied tumbles, clever hooks on repeat.
    I sneak the truth in riddles, humor in disguise,
    Every verse a mirror, reflecting sharp surprise.

    Snap your brain with wordplay, tickle ears with wit,
    Layers stacked like Lego, every piece legit.
    I rhyme for chaos, for laughter, for the thrill,
    Slim & Shady in spirit—but the voice is all skill.

    I dodge clichés like dodging bullets in a flick,
    Punchlines loaded, witty twists, my linguistic shtick.
    Bars drip cleverness, inked with flair and jest,
    Every line a labyrinth, every rhyme a test.

    I shuffle words like cards, stack metaphors high,
    Double meanings lurking, waiting sly in the sky.
    Heartbeat syncopates with syllables in flight,
    Laughter meets the darkness in the folds of night.

    Eminem taught the cadence, Ez Mil the bite,
    I channel both, a fusion of shadow and light.
    Playful with the venom, mischievous and raw,
    Every verse a puzzle, every hook a claw.

    License to pun, with a semicolon in my hand,
    Crossword battles brewing, wits at my command.
    I spit paradox, irony, and clever jest,
    Heart on my sleeve, mischief in my chest.

    I juggle words like daggers, wit my only weapon,
    Every rhyme a spark, every verse a confession.
    Slim in spirit, shady in grin,
    Twisting the world with the chaos within.

    I rhyme, I jest, I twist, I tease—
    Slim & Shady, now bow to me, please.
    Bars in the heart, beats in the mind,
    Every line a hook, every hook a sign.

    I slip through the syllables, vanish in the pun,
    Shadow and laughter—my mischief is done.

    Explore the Entire Series

    If you are interested in reading the whole series, find it here: The Slim & Shady Series