The Anatomy of Falling

unlike a shooting star's gentle trajectory
or the raindrops hitting dry ground
not knowing their worth
this fall
is a graceless arc against the darkness
stones break the descent with harsh misery
hitting the ground, fragile,
the fall is broken only by the exit sign of the light.

Survival

We all fall to our knees
sometimes
in a dark corner of the living
crouched in doubt, humbly singing a soliloquy
with the possibility of an eventual gate, promising dignity
willing ourselves to keep on breathing.

Humidity

ice crackles
moving independently in a glass
condensation gathers on the outside,
a pool forms underneath, staining the inherited wooden table
palpable ancestral anger
your eyes are ice cream melting
wilting, tired in the stifling afternoon

Lullaby

Close your eyes


This autistic love
walks towards you
carrying its  own window of regret
carrying a broken arm
carrying a trace of calm

I sing to you of a poplar forest
of the morning light
in a badly tuned tone


My song carries long gone deficiency
a drafted version of fairy tale love

A mother breathes sounds
safely, into the dying light
well intentioned
suffered, tainted, doubted
hoping for quivering eyelids
precipitating
the forgiving, eventual morning light.

Star gazer

She looked up at the night
She looked through the crystal stars
Those gossiping stars
Not giving them a glance
She saw past them
Only her pain
Reflected back

Box

Let it burn, without a ceremony
let them rise from ashes, glowing in the embers
let them take on the property of air, unstoppable
let these relics live in the power of breathing
in and out, through the mind, eternal

Legacy

At dawn,
In the summer advent season
The news came
The wind changed, quietly
Perhaps you are this wind spirit
Sweeping through a land
Where not one person is left unchanged
We walk, carrying babies, hats, umbrellas in the rain
From the northern suburbs to the townships
The land has become a living breathing animal of honor
Of reverence
Do you see the millions of people?
putting away their egos
You did not fight in vain
The streets with a shining transparency, illuminated at last
There was a dream
Perhaps now, where your shadow dances
A string of lights draws connections in the dark
The dice of justice will be recast
Watched over by the legacy of your name.