The hyenas are getting closer
And closer to the village
With every passing night

But what would you do if it was you
Whose lands had been forcibly seized
And whose food sources
Had been all but destroyed
If you found yourself labelled a pest
For being nothing
But what nature made you

I heard a lone one last night
Howling his lungs away
To no one in particular
I wanted to tell him I understand
What it means to be hungry
And to be completely alone
Through a cold, dark night

I used to cry
when my sister killed a spider

the world taught me to hate

now I crush them without flinching
and I kill them without crying

the world taught me to hate
the world taught me to hate
religion taught me to hate

I loved my neighbor
whether poor or rich,
whether Black or white

the world taught me to hate
the world taught me to hate
my country taught me to hate

I didn’t fear difference
or judge people’s choices

I used to cry
when my sister killed a spider

despite me chronological age being one naught naught
as an impractical joker
to da liver me from being dirt poor,
especially when bitterly cold draught
howls and rattles mine lovely bones
despite a lifetime
weathering supercalifragilisticexpialidocious genes
that no amount of money could buy nor bought.

Not a follower
Of the crowd
Nor laid back
Instead I'm loud
A random grain
That grew alone
With own mind
home grown
Come rain or shine
By thick or thin
Gritted teeth
A painted grin.
And nothing will
Deter my path
To speak my truth
And not by half.

Matteo, our dog, circles and circles
until he feels the spot he's chosen is just right for lying down.
The Princess and the Pea have nothing on him.

When he finally settles, he licks his paws
and gives us a look, as if to say,
"You try to sort things out with four spindly legs."

She was delivered in a red plastic bag
containing a purple shoe-box, wrapped
within something akin to the paper
that’s used at the chip shop.
Red and purple weren’t her colours,
though she was fond of fish on Fridays.
He dipped in his hand, fighting the tremors
and scooped up bits of the powdery grit,
letting her slip through his fingers again.
His daughter whispered words like hugs
and I remembered how he’d given up
sixty fags a day to stay fit enough
to keep her out of a hospice.

I walked into
a familiar house.
With kind hellos and soft smiles,
they welcomed me in.

“I’ll only be a minute,”
I said quietly—
“Take all the time you need,”
they replied.

I had to come back...
for closure,
for validation,
for release.

I stepped past the frame,
and the floor creaked—
a sound that carried me
to the night I left.

It was the only sound
I made as I slipped away.
I prayed it wouldn’t wake you
as I made my escape.

Ugly laughter,
full bellies
Creased faces,
heavy breaths after
sticky sex

Finding your face with my lips,
kissing with sealed eyes
Whispering in the dark
Feeling for your warmth

I dont need to see
to know of your beauty
The closeness comes
in the blind trust
and the best things happen
when we’re not looking

Yahoo!...As an AOL member since the beginning of time...,before tintinnabulation

They said, I was a fool to fall,
to fall in love completely.
‘It’s suicide to swoon and sigh
and say, “she smiles so sweetly.”’

I said, ‘she is my destiny,
a goddess-girl from heaven.
We both were born two days apart,
in nineteen sixty seven.’

They said, ‘the ocean’s full of fish,
like fruit that's ripe for picking.
First love’s a reckless, rash routine:
a habit, well worth kicking.’