That familiar feeling

That familiar feeling
the taste
of salty tears
and broken dreams
of failure
of loneliness
of spiralling down
into oblivion
a blip on the radar
of everything
and everyone
No one.
No sense
Nonsense
Desperation
Helplessness
That familiar feeling
of life.

I will not conform

I will not conform
    to your archaic ideals
          textbook values
                fairytale romances
                      assembly line style
                            pigeon-holed personas

My life will not be a list of tick boxes

I am human
                          I am woman
                I am me.

I will find my way
On grazed hands
and bloodied knees
I will forge my own path
I will find my home.

I will NOT conform.

Reflections of a Working Girl

Home at last.
She stares at her toes
hollow-eyed.
As the warm water
bathes her hair and
trickles down her back,
cleansing her skin

She picks at the dirt on her body
In her body
In her mind.
How did it happen?
She ponders
What happened to innocence?
The little girl
playing games in the garden
with her brothers and sisters

She plays different games now
Innocence died
Along with the flowers
In the garden.

Maybe this will all change
One day
she’ll be happy
Her body will be her own
And her mind will be free

But for now
She counts up the fruits of her labour
Takes off her make up and
Crawls into bed
Still feeling just a little bit dirty

My Senseless Senses

I see the fighting
I see the flames
I see the corpses
Yet I do nothing

I hear the bombs
I hear the stories
I hear the cries
Yet I do nothing

I smell the gunpowder
I smell the blood
I smell the disease
Yet I do nothing

I taste the vulnerability
I taste the torture
I taste the injustice
Yet I do nothing

I feel the anger
I feel the hate
I feel the pain
Yet I do nothing

I have all my senses
Plus a sixth that queries
If human nature is to react to one’s senses
Am I truly human?

Hope...

Stepping out from the darkness
I see a dazzling light
So bright that I want to
Hide in my own shadow
But wait! The haze is clearing
And I can see what lies ahead.
A celestial rainbow
So breathtaking, so pure
A vibrant spectrum
Of man’s hopes and dreams
The road to tranquility
And all good that we desire.
Could this really be
The path to prosperity?
Has the moment finally come
For us to realize the pot of gold?
Can this dawning era
Save a perishing human race?
What can be done
To rescue hope from oblivion?
How can we attain
All we perceive as righteous?
What must we do
To save this species from extinction?
Let us unite in harmony
As brothers and sisters
Let us chorus with pride
Our common identity
Let us walk the rainbow
To a resplendent future.
And then we will hear
The doves of peace
Then we will see
The promised land
And then we can mould
A golden era for us all.

The Final Over

The final over of the match
And our last man is in
Do you think with a crazy chance
That we can possibly win?

The team has sent its worthy bowler
Now he’s running in fast
Can we elude this defeating shadow
That we ourselves have cast?

The leather ball in all its glory
Hits a blazing bat
And meets our team’s die-hard supporters
Would you look at that?

The umpire lifts his hands up high
And signals a mighty six
Do you think that this young man
Can dig us out of this fix?

The greatest batsman in the world
Is now on ninety-nine
One more run and he can say
“Another century is mine!”

But alas, his day is not to be
For the bowler takes his wicket
And so we lose, but still we love
That fabulous game called cricket.