nonsensical raving

Artwork from Google

nonsensical raving …

dreaming of unfettered tomorrows, with no weight of the now bogging us down, no more plasticine smiles, stuck on fake faces, all worn to get through a single day. no more vacuum sealed desires, to be consumed within three days after opening, the sham of it all boldly apparent, mirroring our cardboard selves.

when does it end, this gold-plated facade, this charade of having it all, and having it all together, without cracks on the edges, as unnatural as neatly trimmed hedges.

where did we go so wrong, our vocal acquiescence to the shimmering glittering circus that breezed through town some day decades ago, promising gags whilst gagging us to what should be real, ripping out our souls as we gleefully smiled, inured to the amputation of feeling, draining us slowly as our very selves were left reeling.

and what of today, as we glide through aisles, trying on this or that face, being ever egged on to join the rat race, without which we are rendered impotent, as barren as the desert of hope, while we are still, perennially, expected and aspire to smile and to cope …

Artwork from Google

A Tribute to Comrade Dulcie September.Born: 20 August 1935, Athlone Cape Town.Assassinated: 29 March 1988, Paris, France.

Comrade and Martyr Dulcie September

African National Congress of South Africa

A Tribute to Comrade Dulcie September.

Born: 20 August 1935, Athlone Cape Town.

Assassinated: 29 March 1988, Paris, France.

Escaping the omnipresent shadows,

eluding the sweaty palms of the torturer,

remaining steadfast to not believing that you wore the skin of shame,

in hiding, here and there, with no one,

yet everyone to silently blame.

Leaving the lips once kissed behind,

to a refuge impossible to find,

not a word of sad welcome,

severing all ties that bind.

When finally you left for a new dwelling in a faraway alien land,

reeking and drenched in a foreignness so blatantly bland,

never fitting in, though always dreading being shut out,

singing paeans to hope scribbled in the sand.

You left your country, your home, your very own place of being,

you escaped Apartheid hell, into exile, far away from blinded eyes so unseeing,

and you held to a principle within, and you stood resolute,

till the shadows felt themselves in shame fleeing.

We salute you! And all like you, and the so many countless more,

into whose flesh the tyrant’s sword so cruelly tore.

We salute you!

You who fought at home and you who left to fight,

only to be murdered,

on a lonely, distant shore.

The Military Wing of the African National Congress

Plaque honouring Dulcie September in Paris, France

https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/dulcie-evon-september

repost: you lifted me

Artwork from Google

you lifted me …

In the void of the crevasse,

in the bleakness that siphoned my breath,

in the pit of hopeless despair,

you lifted me,

to live again,

to be.

In the thrashing maelstrom of pain,

in the drowning sewage of that vile drain.,

you lifted me,

to live again,

to see.

In the suffocating hell of loneliness,

in the prison where I walked on shards of glass,

you lifted me,

to live …

you lifted me,

out of the bleakness of my personal hell,

you lifted me,

when all that remained of me was a hollow shell,

you lifted me,

each time I tripped, every time I fell …

you lifted me,

breathing life into my arid soul again,

you lifted me,

with the elixir to stand upright again,

you lifted me,

healing me with your human touch again …

you lifted me,

out of the desolation of that lifeless cave,

you lifted me,

you infused in me the hope that you so selflessly gave,

you lifted me,

steering me away from the edge of that yawning grave …

you lifted me,

mending the fragments of my heart,

you lifted me,

gathering the pieces of myself that lay torn apart,

you lifted me,

giving life, as the anguish did quietly depart …

you lifted me,

cradling me as I once more felt whole,

you lifted me,

away from the agony of walking on hot coal,

you lifted me,

as you lift me now …

now that we are one,

now that we are together,

now that we bathe in the light that fate once stole,

you lifted me,

as we remain as one,

heart to heart,

soul to soul …

Artwork from Google