Chapters (148)

I said I raced my mates through the park.

You said it was deliberate.

I said I didn’t . . . I mean, I did . . . but it wasn’t.

You said I was lying.

I said no, I’m not.

You said there you go again.

Later in the dawn of adolescence

It was time for my leave,

I with my suitcase and social worker,

You with your husband.

We walked our sliced ways.

Sometimes I run back to you

Like a child through a muddy park,

Adult achievements tucked under my arm.

I explain them with a childlike twinkle,

Thinking any mother would be proud.

Your eyes desperately trying to be wise and unrevealing
reveal all.

Still you fall back into the same rocking chair,
Saying there you go again.

And I did.

And I have.

The Nest

In shells

Small bells

Echo

Echoes

Till the hairline crack

Hisses

Revealing

Small chickens.

That’s us:

Small chickens

Learning to hatch.

Different eggs

In the same nest.

Pass It On

How is it that we still smile when the pressure comes?

How is it that we stand firm when they think that we should run?

How is it that we retain our integrity?

How is it through this maze that we keep the clarity?

How is it that through pain we retain compassion?

How is it that we spread but stay one nation?

How is it that we work in the face of abuse?

How is it that the pressure’s on yet we seem loose?

This is the story about the rising truth,

When you feel closed in simply raise the roof.

The Africans were the first civilisation,

Born by the Nile was the first generation.

Malcolm X had a dream, we have a dream too,

And the only way to get it is to pass it on through,

From the day we leave to the day we arrived

We were born to survive, born to stay alive,

By all means necessary I’m an accessory,

To provide the positive vibe is a necessity,

To clasp our past to go to war with our fears,

To claim and attain in our future years.

Sometimes life can be cold and complicated;