She stands where the river blows her hair wild

no youth and no favor for her
no hands to clean the salt licks on her skin
her palms are dreams wrinkled dry
yet craving an offer.

You come from a distant land, she says,
heavens bless you.

I got no small change, I respond,
my mind drifts to ponder,

a small change, I need that too,
always hungered for
and faltered through
like I missed the vessel narrowly
to be on the river's other side.

Maybe when I come back,
I turn toward her.

She was gone.

Keep distance, the Snail said,
I don't feel safe with humans around
and my pace makes me so vulnerable.

He took a deep breath and added,
do you ever feel my toil
to move from place to place
while the winds blow in gusts
and the world passes by like a storm?

My minutes tick like your hours
and hours days
as I climb the mountains of walls
cover furlongs of ground
rest and restart
never really knowing
where the path ends.

And you only add to my woes.

Your prank of a kick
rolls me back and down
all the way
to beyond from where I began.

A teardrop gathered in his opal eyes.

But it really doesn't matter,
a smile broke through the tears,

I see with all your pace
you're so far from happiness.

Her Story

She was just a Village girl,
Forever counting the countless stars
in the hopes that her golden dream would shine
just as brght

But all my reality showed her
was a
Dull
Damp
And Diminishing hope
for any change,

See, She was just a Village girl,
Dreaming loud and proud of her
Golden Husband

But all reality showed her
was
Sipho next door
sipping on some smooth
Milk

so, She ran.
Passing surprised, suppressed
faces
until She reached the city of GOLD.

And for a change reality showed her something
GOLDEN.

She assumed too soon,
see, her  Golden tiled floors
were dark  tarred roads

Her Golden roof
was a CBD Bridge

Her Golden painted walls
were graffiti  painted pillars

Her golden husband
Who was more dust than gold,

Picked her from the gravel,
Told her that she radiated beauty
that her chocolate skin  put him in a constant chocolate high,

But soon that was all gone,
See, she was changing

Her skin went from purple to black even blue too
Her body di'composed
Each muscle swelling, aching, bruising
Her
golden husband
who was more dust than gold
turned into  a brutal
being. Beating...Beating...her.


So she ran.
passing surprised suppressed faces until she returned  home.

A soul is all you needed to be human,
I tell the ape,
that God blessed us with upon divergence
when he made us lose our tails
but forked us into different routes
in his flash of magnificence
morphing us into a super entity
but pitifully
depriving you of that edge.

A soul, I assert with satisfaction,
would've kept you out of this cage.

You might not have even noticed it,
I hated the grin on its face,
yours has only some wider space
by God's will,
so you wouldn't easily feel
your soul's losing the way in the maze.

But a cage, is a cage, is a cage..

Will you... walk a while with me
Along my painful way
A love whose heart has eyes to see
When stars shine over the darken sea
The quiet rest at the end of the day
While all else sleep I cry and prey
Will you... walk a while with me
A friend who knows and cares to say
"Stay strong my dear I am always near"
Sweet words that cheer my questioning heart
No matter how distant we are never apart
Will you... walk a while with me
In spirit you take my hand
With tearful eyes I search for answers
In the kindness of your soul
Until the pain will let me go
Will you... walk a while with me

(read forward, then backward, line by line)

I ran.
Not knowing what else to do
There was so much blood on my hands
It was mine
The kitchen knife
Caught in my chest
Guilt
Consumed by
Fear
I was heightened by
Adrenaline
But running on
Wasn’t enough
While trying to stay calm,
Losing control
It was me that would end up
Dead. Because
He was
In front of me
The whole time
It was too late
Trapped
I found myself
Locked in chains
My fate was
Death.