sapphire sky

sapphire sky.

in the distance

flickering softly

warm hope

yawns

bathing this

soft morning

with

birdsong

whispering tales of journeys done

beneath the canopy

of

boundless

sapphire sky

a cry as another year beckons

​

a cry as another year beckons.

where hatred flows like raw sewage, where intolerance festers in fungal minds, where every ugly stripe of prejudice is on proud display,

may we all stand up and be heard, may we all rise up and be counted, may we all shed our cloak of apathy, may we all cease to be active participants in this grotesque play.

where vicious poverty tramples human dignity, where gnawing hunger leeches humanity, where human beings have been cast out of their lands, of their houses,

may we rattle the corridors of power, may we fight for equitable change, may we scream our outrage, may we forge the bonds of solidarity, may our collective voice be hushed no more, may we shake each other so that humane ideals from slumber rouses.

where violence is rained down on people of a different colour, of a different religion and creed, of a different caste, of a different sexual persuasion, of women everywhere every night, where the shadows of pain grow ever longer,

may our lips not remain sewn shut, may we remain complicit by silence never again, may we know we are more, and being more, we are all the stronger. 

may we link arms across this pained world,

may we all see the banner of hope unfurled,

may we cease to look the other way,

may we strive for a more just day,

may we lose our petty differences, casting them into the sea,

may we reclaim our humanity, may we set our loving thoughts free,

may we always strive and struggle and battle for what is right,

may we never give in to despondency, may we not sink into the quicksand of feeling helpless, may we all arise and fight the good fight,

may we never forget the sacrifices of those who have passed, of those who have shed their blood, of those who made the supreme sacrifice so that we may today be here,

may we always honour their legacy, not in words and poems and songs, but to truly honour their lives and their scattered bones, by picking up their baton they so fiercely held, by raising their standard they so courageously held aloft, by getting our hands dirty as we rattle the 1% and their ostentatious thrones,

may we accept that the battles ahead may be long and hard, may we acknowledge that power never cedes, it’s metallic talons digging into our flesh so deep,

may we send them a message loud and clear, that nothing shall ever again dull our common resolve:

now.

today.

and in the tomorrows that yet to upon us creep,

may our message be clear:

we the people have awakened,

and we the people shall not be driven back to sleep.

all power to the people!

the struggles continue!

amandla!**

awethu!**

** – “Amandla – Awethu” means “Power to the People, and was a rallying slogan during the struggle against Apartheid.

whispers

whispers, seeking respite,

drifting away,

ablaze on a canvas of breathtaking smiles,

bidding adieu,

to the endless,

treacherous, manic miles,

strapped in,

closeted,

in the constant gurgling of the crowd,

cushioned,

buffering,

inuring the conscience,

far too placatory,

far less backbone,

while ego huffs and buffs,

loud brash and pompously proud,

so,

even though the open skies may be boundless,

clearly cloudless,

still,

the stubborn loyalty to gravity,

rooted, terra-firma,

choosing to weather the chaos of elemental fury,

accepting of the scars,

the blood not yet spilled,

the long cold humid icicle stormy battles of which there shall be more,

and that shall be fought,

reigniting a hope,

nourished, nurtured,

on the precipice of being realised,

not merely peripherally,

exalted, inflamed,

thud-thudding,

within,

my hearts core …

turquoise turret

turquoise turret … … …

bubblegum clouds drizzle cotton-candy floss, blurring my view,

liquorice asphalt twists, a slow burn, igniting memories of she, ashenly charred, akin to her tresses auburn,

as i peer from atop my turquoise turret, all that lies between i and she,

are walls well secured,

surreptitious defences obscured …