White Child in Africa

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Call Me Ishmael.”

I think I first realized something was wrong when our nextdoor neighbour, oom Piet Oberholzer, was murdered
I was about six years old then, and I never will forget when I realized
The perils of being a child of Africa would soon out-way the joys
Of being alive under the African sky
I knew in my heart that a choice would need to be made
One day of choosing to stay or to go
As fate would have it, when the day came to choose
I packed my bags, and with sadness in my heart
I left

First line extracted from the first line of Peter Godwin’s Mukiwa – A White Boy in Africa

Remember Me

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “For Posterity.”

Remember me
With a smile on my face
For posterity
Feeling loved and happy
Love me
Through all my struggles and despair
Remember me
For my faith and hope and vulnerability
Forgive me
For when I disappoint
And I will remember you
I will forgive you too
And I will love you with all my heart

image

Angel of Love

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Daring Do.”

I’m in the water
Watching my son as he would
Dive in, swim back and dive in again
When very gently my face is turned
To my little girl who is under
I see arms bands on the side
And a daughter far from me
Touched by an angel of love
By grace I could reach her in time
For my baby girl to breathe again

Mirror Image

I know we have work to do
I know it must be done
Spreadsheets, planning, figures, facts
Project plans, and timelines too

I’ll pop over then we can start
Get your laptop ready, coffee set to brew
You live nearby and office too far
I’ll pop over in just a second or two!

Wow, what’s happening here?
Is this your home or mine?
We have the same taste in books I see
Comprehension beyond belief!

Do you finish your books ever?
The same books as mine?
Can you share the stories with me?
I love the covers, but have no idea –

What is underneath
What lies beneath the surface

Wait a minute!
Decorated walls – just like mine
Colour of paint – just like mine
Even this furniture!
Just like mine

I am feeling overwhelmed, one grand mystery
This is too much for me
Maybe we have the same taste in java beans
Because I really now need that mug of coffee!

Milk, no sugar please!

But I’m guessing you know that.

Stalker

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/doppelganger-alert/

Angel inside my Head!

My imaginary friend
Lives in my heart
And in my mind
We have been friends from
When I was maybe five?
For when kindergarten rolled by
And time to sleep
Quiet time would arrive
And this was serious
One must follow the rules
And that would include –
No talking or laughing or playing the fool
Imaginary friend would knock on my door
And we could spend time together, hours galore
Friend forever for this I know
In my quiet times and all alone
Friend will be there for me
Hoping to keep me company
I love my friend and she loves me
But I cannot share her name
She has a beautiful name and a short one too
But I would never betray her like that
This is the only time I’ve ever acknowledged
Or spoken about
Or given a voice to
My beautiful sweet darling
Imaginary friend!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/imaginary-friend/

Ballet Lesson

Sister and I—
She older than me
Mom is away
At shops for the day
Babysitter at home
But she’s occupied

Shall we jump,
The bed is free?
Mom won’t hear
Because she’s not here
Arrived from ballet
And we have so much energy

Jump, jump and jump some more
Until finally I jump to the floor
Freshly polished to make it gleam
Shoulder connects, collarbone does too
Snap!
Six year old frame breaks in two

Pain surges raw!
I’ve never felt agony before
And mom’s not here
Only babysitter, sister and me
I can’t move, I can’t walk
And I know what it feels to

Want to die

20141020-231607.jpg

finite creatures | daily post

Just like Honey!!!

I am lost
Don’t know where I am
Don’t understand the language
The faces unfamiliar
I am unfamiliar
Uncomfortable
Fair skin, fair hair
Standing out from the crowd
I am part of the crowd
Eavesdropping because I can
I am in the movies now!
And I don’t have to hit replay
Ten million times
And I don’t have to watch this movie
Ten million times
My favourite in the whole world
The favourite for me
There is only one favourite of mine
And it has never changed

Finally, all will be revealed
The mystery and suspense forever gone

For what did Bill Murray ever whisper
Into the ear of Scarlet Johansson?
And how dare she ever act in another script
When she belongs so firmly, so rightly in
Lost in Translation!

Bonus YouTube – one I can set on replay
All through the night
I’ve been told its a Girlie Flick
Fine by me – I’m a girl!!
And a very nice one too!

Passion through Poetry
Viva!!!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/fourth-wall/

Stranger Hoping for Library

A knock at the door
That’s quite a surprise
Visitors are often quite few and far between
I open the door, quite cautiously
Stranger looking for the library

Well, that’s quite quaint I must admit
A library was a place I often used to frequent
From when I was eight till about eighteen
My favourite place apart from being at home
Would be to be lost in the Library

But times have changed and so have we
And poor Library is being replaced so rapidly
With iPads and iPhones and iBooks and iEverything
And iDirections too in case one needs to be
In a hurry at the Library

But I had to empathise
On the spot and with love in my heart
If Stranger needs to be in the Library
Then the chances that there would be
Some technology to help find the way

Would probably be very remote and quite slim
And so I didn’t feel comfortable
In being very mean, poor soul
I offered Stranger a cup of tea
And then led Stranger to the Library

ride

Photo courtesy
Ali McGill Photography

Circuitous Paths | Daily Post

Equality

This post seems a bit unfair
A bit too easy for someone like me
Someone brought up in a land of inequality
When my best friend and I
Could have coffee in a cafe denied
The only way we could be friends
Is that we were not schooled
In the system of the state
But in a convent run by nuns
Where all were free no matter your skin
No matter your appearance
My friend and I
We are still friends
Bound together by love and not by chains

BelovedCountry1

Unequal Terms | Daily Post

Avant Garde

Oh wow
I did a post
And then my nerves overruled
Not very modest of me
Not bearing much humility
I deleted it
And now I have no real post
And no poetry

😦

Does this happen to anyone else?
Massive case of insecurity?

Avant Garde | Daily Post