Behind the glittering lights and metals
Behind the rich man’s lane
Lies a narrow street of petals
Where real lives thrives in pain
They know not I am writing of them
They care not I am in their midst
They’ve burried their heads in sands of time
And lost in the morning mist
…and they catwalked the land of blazing sun
Dressed in threads of threes
It’s late at night but their faces well done
Where are you headed please?
One way to write is to sing when you write
Another way to write is to feel when you write
There’s one more way you can do it tonight
But you’ve to remember the dream that you dreamt last night.
Walking in a busy street is so much fun. So many faces with so many expressions. I pretty much camouflaged into the sea of souls. It wasn’t difficult to blend in perfectly. Within seconds I was just one of them. What more could I possibly ask for? I am an introvert that likes crowd! Or shall I put it this way, I like people-watching without me being watched.
Just when I was soaked in the sunshine of night I heard someone yelling “whore, whore”. ‘How disgusting!’, I thought. More so, how embarrassing it is for the victim of such a public humiliation.
I looked around hastily. Unable to locate the epicentre I stood still. The yelling continued. “Pibe… seben…jeero…jeero”
‘Ah!!’ I gently slid my hands into my pockets and walked into the night.
Nimble feet dancer that stomped my back
That made me laugh when sadness stroke
I cried a lot on the tarmac
They saw my tear marks when I woke
This is where she’ll drag you down
This is what she likes
Here they’ve got a golden gown
And there some golden spikes
One to my left and one to my right
I hear the prayer call but none at site
Hippy ho low waist showed up slow
But where’s the one that’s got the glow?
I sleepwalked out of my apartment building to grab a cup of coffee at a nearby coffee shop. On the way is this hookah bar where a barely dressed working-lady was lighting up charcoal. Because she was staring at me I cast a drowsy smile back at her. She screamed ‘eeeh!!’ and I took it as if she meant to say ‘Early morning??!!’
I snapped back from my sleep instantly. The red bull effect! I threw my hand and protested “NO!!”
She stormed inside with a hysterical laughter.
I am not what you think I am
And I can’t be what you want me to be
Because this is what I am
And this is how I will be!
I am sitting where my father once sat
I am asking what he had asked that day
I remember his shoes and that old man’s hat
He had had reached late but I am a bit early today!
Costly cars and richly dressed
I had seen them all yesterday
I don’t envy them coz I had the best
It’s just that I had them yesterday!
I wiped out the last drop of sweat I carried for years
I lost my weight and I squeezed my wallet
I felt my heart shrunk and saw my eyes shed tears
I built it with almost an empty pocket
Is it worth waiting for?
All that hardship and waste of time?
whom did I sell my dignity for?
I should’ve known the value of time.
What you sow is what you reap
Your baby spilled what you’d asked to keep
Why oh why oh why oh why??
I caught him stick his middle finger high!
Nothing comes early and nothing is too late
You get it only when it’s due
Call it your Destiny or call it your fate
Everything is sealed. Nothing is new.
I taught him how to hold a pen
I taught him how to write
But I should’ve made him buy his own pen
Because I wanted mine to write.
Everything was smooth and easy going
Until this killer fish came along
The phase at which this killer was moving
We started singing our own death song.
Grumpy grandpa had a goose
That laid a golden egg everyday
But they killed the grandpa and his goose
On a bright sunny day.
Gone was all that came for free
They had to sweat for bread and tea.
Shootings and looting were on the rise
Greed was paying it’s price!
The going got tough and the tough got weaker
To their surprise it was all much quicker
How do we undo the done they asked
A wise question that came out at last.
Earthquakes and killer waves
Scores lay dead in the downtown.
Panicked crowd stampeded open graves
While all the tall buildings came down.
He wasn’t there when I wanted him
My so called boss, Mister Jim!
Now I am starving; I need a job
But I’d rather not work for another snob.
…remember the boat I spoke about?
That got stranded in the middle of an ocean?
No food, no water, day in day out
Lonely soul lingering in slow motion?
Rolling down the valley towards a molehill
Taking down lives and houses and riches
The cornfield of filth – see? I made you spill!
The bad, the worst and some witches.
They were there: those that are not of their blood
Caring for none and daring to reach
It wasn’t rain they feared, it was the flood.
May be this is how he chose to teach.
Now they knew. Well, not all of them!
The colour of blood can only be red
We have to go where we came from
Some went early while the rest are dead!
