freeversing the blues

freeversing the blues …

tears trickle down far too many a cheek,

while bigotry and hate like raw sewage reek,

down these cellophane faces in plastic towns,

while hope in the well of misery drowns.

the fractured spirits never seem to mend,

even when swallowing the latest trend,

gagging at the emptiness of last week’s buys,

desperately polishing facades while the barren heart cries.

we crawl as we trawl the roads for joy,

spitting yesterdays away like some overused toy,

fleeting moments never savoured whatever the ploy,

we become the enemies we seek to destroy.

why do we slam the doors shut on faces hungry and needy,

don’t we already have it all for us to be so callously greedy,

while we suck the blood and drink the tears of the ones we chase away,

condemning them to ghettoes in which they absolutely must stay.

when will we excise the demons on which apathy feeds,

will we ever kill off sweatshops serving our wants and not our needs,

will we ever stop putting guns in children’s hands,

will we perpetuate the lie of where the tomahawk missile really lands.

what grotesque metamorphosis have we been subjected to,

where we whistle down corridors oblivious, blinded to all that is true,

throttling the many for the benefit of the few,

all the while supping on heaving tables as if we don’t have a clue.

will we continue to feign ignorance of marital, partner, and child sexual abuse,

discarding each fractured soul as if they were stale news,

blindly turning our heads and thusly perpetuating male hetero-patriarchy,

keeping the blinkers on, while banishing the sordid truth we pretend not to see.

when will people of colour all around the world be seen, as human beings and not merely chattel,

as people, as a part of humanity, and not as some half-bred form of vassal,

to be used and discarded like stale garbage that needs to be trashed,

while on single malt whisky we gleefully get smashed …

… and when will all the world share in the bounties of this earth,

so that we may truly bring a more equitable, a more fair, a more just world to birth …

My loveliness

quote from google

My loveliness waits,

through decades of lost haste,

through trials and grief,

peaceful days and dire straits,

my loveliness waits.

I wait,

through decades past,

for kisses meant to last,

i wait,

to hold my loveliness,

in these lonesome arms,

i wait,

transcending lust,

overcoming desire,

i wait,

to be burnt to ash,

in the furnace of her raging fire …

art from google

unashamed love

unashamed love …

tongue-tied,

you said i was a lush,

intoxicated by you was i,

but instead i lied,

calling you my pineapple crush,

when all along i was afflicted, addicted,

with nowhere left to hide, adrift in the swirling sea of your love, and though,

time flies,

i still feel that rush,

gazing into the ocean of your eyes,

reducing me still,

today,

into an unabashed lush,

so forgive me this scribble,

this ode to you,

and all this unashamed mush …

may soft petals caress you …

“Petals of love” by Marisa R Ng – Artwork from Google

may soft petals caress your being …

… may gentle shoulders share your burdens.

may warm sunshine reach the innermost recesses of your thud-thudding heart

may these words

offer

solace

comfort

when hope

seems vacant

an empty space

hollow

cold

yet safe

in moments like those

is when

i

hope

you

know

there’s always the promise of a less harsh tomorrow …

“Petite Petals V” by Konstantin Savchenko – Artwork from Google

lying together

lying together,

enveloped in each others arms,

we swore oaths to the stars and the years yet to unfold,

lying together …

desolation in love

desolation in love.

these empty seances, this void of nothingness,

are we in love?

these hollow emotions, this vacuum of feelings,

are we lost?

lost in the spaces where emptiness thrives,

lost in the crannies where desolation lies,

lost in the alleyways where barren souls stagger,

lost in the moments where numbness lives,

lost amongst it all,

lost in everything,

except being lost in love …

we are one race

We are one Race = Human …

1.

The bigots on all sides try to inflame our petty egos,

to inflate our hollow pride,

bigots on all sides try to abuse our beliefs,

so blinded by our puffed-up arrogance –

“my country right or wrong”,

“my religion and never yours”,

“the colour of my skin and not yours”.

Politicians on all sides try to divide us,

their narrow ambitions riding on our emotions,

trying to pollute all that can, if unquestioningly followed, tear us apart:

nationality,

language,

religion,

gender,

tribe,

race,

sect,

drumming up fear, always fear,

of my fear of you,

of your fear of them,

of our fear of them all.

Their hypocrisy is stark,

as jarring as a rabid dog’s wailing bark,

their intentions far from noble,

their hope is to keep us all, shivering with trepidation,

in the dungeon of racist,

nationalistic,

sectarian,

religious,

casteist,

notions of superiority,

as we throw punches,

as we hurl abuse,

at each other in this purposely infected dark.

The clergy on all sides as well, want us huddled in fear in the deep suffocating well,

of carefully crafted sectarian hate, of artificial religious walls,

of dogma and of semantics, of only picking each other up,

if they are one of “us”,

but never if one of “them” slips,

and falls.

We have danced to these toxic tunes for far too long,

we have served their diseased interests for ages,

dictating who can belong,

allowing the blood in our veins,

to be boiled as it ceases to flow,

and simply rages.

The monsters of Capital and of greed,

have kept us all in line, shackled by the fictitious belief,

that trickle down wealth will bring us all some relief,

while amassing fortunes and sending the young to war,

for their invasions of plunder, of opening up new markets,

even as the gravely wounded soldier knocks on death’s door.

2.

No more!

The future is ours and it will be built with our bare hands, though not as before,

because we stand today as one race,

the human race,

we stand together today,

and their batons and bullets we are prepared to face!

No more!

The times ahead are ours, and the furnace of meaningful change burns bright in our collective core,

for we stand today as one race,

the human race,

we stand together today,

to banish the old and build a new world in its place!

No more!

The years ahead shall be filled with trials and tribulations, but we will let the light shine as we open every locked door,

for we stand today as one race,

the human race,

we stand together today,

and we shall reclaim our commons, our wide open shared space!

No more!

Tomorrow the healing will begin, of countless a festering sore,

for we stand today as one race,

the human race.

We stand together today,

we stand firm and we stand tall,

firm in our convictions that we will always lend our hands to all,

to never again, to never let, another human being break down and fall 

the rose and the dew

the rose and the dew

soothing dew of the dawn, teases the rose in the mist of new morn,

nourishing the rose, encased in a dewy sheath, drops of soothing dew tease tendrils of each leaf,

soothing flowers, the dew banishes the night, in soft hues of exquisite early light:

you are the dew to my solitary leaf, seducing my soul with loving belief,

and I, I revel in the balm of your solace, shunning the pain of this world, with welcome relief … … …

The traveller and the Baobab

The Traveller and the Baobab Tree …

1.

A summer breeze,

drifts down lonesome pathways and byways and alleyways,

touching worlds,

torn apart.

The breeze engulfs,

a pristine sky of blue,

while,

scattering the murmuring clouds,

that blanket the blazing African heavens,

in swirls and immaculate shrouds.

2.

A passing shower,

of gentle misty rain,

settles,

on freshly scented-earth.

It soothes,

it caresses,

the exhausted thoughts,

of,

a weary traveller,

who sits,

alone, all alone,

under a Baobab tree.

3.

The traveller walks alone,

at peace with the fragrant soil,

collecting memories of smiles embraced along the way.

4.

Finally, the wandering soul,

seeks rest,

finding peace at last,

yet,

knowing its price,

is to let go –

each memory,

and every smile,

that once burned true,

but now,

awaits release,

from the ache of the lingering past.

jacaranda street

jacaranda street …

breaths drawn,

echo across fields of green …

a plaintive song,

teasing the grass,

paths once walked,

hand in hand,

now burning highways,

of cold stone, dead concrete,

yearning for bygone days,

walking, together,

on your jacaranda carpeted street …

tangerine kisses

tangerine kisses …

tangerine kisses, beneath marshmallow skies,

ignite the kindling, the tinder,

crackling, inflamed, ablaze,

hushing cacophonous day, scattering night’s haze …