The African Rains …

The African Rains …

Soaking, the rains settle,

meandering over jagged faultlines of our memory.

Drenching, the rains settle,

streaming through veins, the thud-thudding of the heartbeat of Africa.

Absorbing,the rains that settle,

within each of us,

herald rebirth.

And, if you listen,

if you strain to hear,

while shedding the raucous noise of your inner turmoil.

If you listen, the whispers of the ancestors,

speak to us all, lending us warmth,

urging us to stand

even though we may stumble,

even though we may fall.

Talkin’ Bipolar Blues …

Talkin’ Bipolar Blues …

I’m just a-waitin’ around,

aching for that day,

when pain flees,

scurrying away,

when I’m not lost in this wilderness of desolation,

when life doesn’t feel like a torturous aberration,

yes, I’m a-walkin’ in my shoes,

just trying to shake off these bipolar blues,

aching for the day,

when pain flees,

scurrying away:

where bright days dawn,

where wild flowers grow,

in meadows of peace,

where placid streams flow.

“Are you fine?”, they ask …

“I am fine”, I say …

but actually no,

no, i am not fine,

i am just about as fine as a dung-dusted shoe is from a shine.

no, i am not fine,

i am lost,

I am lost between mangled dreams, and howling screams,

discordant, jangling,

being ripped agonisingly apart at the seams,

these blinded eyes drowning in torrential streams,

strangled, neutered, dull,

with just enough time to mull,

that every shard of emotion has been anaesthetised,

that every filament of feeling has been rendered null –

with every sentiment vacuumed into the frigid void,

knowing there can be no gnawing pain,

knowing that every neuron is of all static devoid

hope endures …

in the claws of grinding dismay, hope endures.

in the talons of savage reality, hope endures.

wedged deep the thorns may be, yet hope endures.

bruised bloody the soul may feel, yet hope endures.

beyond these words, hope endures.

past this paltry rhyme, hope endures.

soaring into the boundless sky, hope endures.

running free in fields of flowers, hope endures.

hope endures, as life batters the day,
hope endures, as today shatters the night,

hope endures, as it must, for the journey ahead

hope endures, as it must, for the avenues yet to be tread …