Reflecting
Look at your own feet first
Grounding
Then, at the vast sky above
Elevating
Root down to rise up
Prevail
Facades
Do not be
deceived
By my refined
exterior
I hold
stories
Pain
Love
Strength
You cannot imagine.
Do not try
To manipulate me
My demeanour
will change
You will not
like it.
Barriers
Glass
you are never enough
stereotypical bias
Unattainable
Concrete
an exception perhaps
palatable identities
impenetrable
Maternal wall
it made my womb ache
judgemental threats
unimaginable
Bamboo
an eternal imposter
minority myth
inconceivable.
Crack open a window!
Broken glass, everywhere.
Prague: Old clock, new normal
Old photos of places
We can no longer travel to
Squares we can no longer visit
Spaces we can no longer inhabit
Clocks installed in 1410
But in 2020
Not without a mask
Social distance
The only thing familiar are the
Screens
As they inhabit
our lives
more than ever.
Talia: A 50-word story
Her eyes squinted
Struggling to decipher the message
That people have been forced to forget
Their ancestral tongues
Basking in the Joburg sun
Reflecting on our need to
deal with the past.
Rubbing her neck gently
I so need time to
decompress right now.
The world is a crazy place.
Robert: A 60-word story
He was asked where he felt at ‘home’
A smile and a wince
I grew up not far from here in a small town.
I immediately moved out when I came home from travels.
Not generations but mentalities
A disconnect from those who had returned
I want to be in an urban space, where it is dynamic and social.
