What Women Want

What do women want
Are they not worth our love
Then why is she not contented
And love is what I have gifted to her

Or is it my car she is worth
So she feels accepted

What do women want
Are they not worth our trust
Then why wont she stay
And trust is what I have relinquished to her

Or is it my money she is worth
So that she feels safe

What do women want
Are they not worth our commitment
Then why wont she belong
And commitment is what I have built in her

Or is it my house she is worth
So that she can be happy

What do women want
Are they not worth our time
Then why wont she stay
And time is what I spend with her

Or is it my wealth she is worth
So she can be at peace

What do women want
Are they not worth our company
Then why wont she be happy
And company is what I offered her

Prayers of a Sinner

Am stooped, longing for a prayer
But, what must compel me to pray
Is it the fear of God or the fear of my sins
With my hands gently on my knees
Meek in my own sudden compulsion
Wanting to know and not to know
From the supreme deity, all at the same time
What must compel me into prayers
And my eyes are shut
Is it in fear of meeting God or seeing my sins
What reality of my life is it
The fear of the judgement day
Or the judgement that will be passed upon me
And with my head bowed
I seek to know
Is it in shame of my sins or in obedience to God
What truth of my living is it
Contemplating my choices
Will I be in either of the processions
One singing to Heaven
Or the one wailing to Hell
But, what must compel me into prayers
Is it the choruses and the sermons of angels
Or the allure of gold and silver
And I ask, what
Will compel me to pray
For my sins and to my God
It it the bounty of His providence
Or because am asking for His providence
But, what must compel me into prayer

Love and Death

What can change me
If not love, and if not death

One gives but the other takes
That where love has given
From me death has taken
That where my daughter was born
My mother was taken
And from where I lost a sister
Plays a son

What can change me
If not Love, and if not death

One builds, the other destroys
That where love has gifted
From me death has stolen
Where now stands a departed father
The hugs of brothers flourish
And from the fields of my sorrow
Is now planted joy

What can change me
If not love, and if not death

One is compassionate, the other brutal
That where love has forgiven
From me death has punished
That from where I stand divorced
A marriage is consummated
And from where they pronounce my death
A birth is celebrated

What can change me
If not love, and if not death

One is merciful but the other is cruel
That where love is tolerant
From me death has been insolent
That from where they bid me farewell
A welcoming party for the other begins
And from where there is a funeral
There is a wedding feast

What can change me
If not Love, and if not death

She Dances

She dances her dance
To the random beats
Her worries scattered
Like the beats ratting from my old stereo
She turns and twine
Like wild forest twigs
Tying each of her motions in fine emotions
In rhythm to the sway gyrating her
So flawless in flow
She dances her dance
Dancing like a water fall
She meanders with firmness in her steps
Like a lactating river
Feeding from the upstream
To the rattles and the plucking of my old stereo
She dances her dance
With soft tremors gulping her soul
As she floats away
Dancing her dance
To the random beats 
Rattling from my old stereo

Shadow

My shadow
you play by my side
when I dance, you dance
when I clap, you clap too
but why wont you sing like I do
so that I echo your song into mine

My shadow
you walk by my side
when I sit, you sit
When I stand, you stand too
but why wont you cry like I do
so that I can hold you in my arms

My shadow
you rest by my side
when I squat, you squat
when I sleep, you sleep too
but why wont you laugh like I do
so that I can sway in your joy

Short changed

I thought they were friends

That they would stand with me

And fight where I fought

But, they lied

They lied about that plan

They sold my efforts away

They blew our commitment

But, how they lied

They said the time was right

They bowed and vowed

They swore by the idea

And when they took that oath

They said it would be a union

But, they still lied

They sold it to the enemy

But, why their lies

They lied about that dream

And the vision we shared

The ones I trusted

But, why did they lie

Like vultures dancing at death

Smiling at my carcass 

The idea now scattered

But, they lied

 

Caricatures

They dance broken

Like sticks fragmented

And sing in inciting elation

Like teenagers in glee 

Caricatures dressed in style

Each parading his ethnic stronghold

Like a priced bull ready for slaughter

Caricatures on podiums

Acting with the finesse of maestros

Vows and promises they make

Swearing and sweating in excitement

Frothing in filth

Each of their words a lie

In praise of their tribal chief

They dance to the euphoria

Of their jubilant drunk masses
Each staggering in their own hatred

Drunk from their delusions of power

Incited by echoed fears
Drawing rage to their faces
Their fists ready to tear 

But when done, they'll return after ages

To the forgotten masses, in huge cars and cash

To bewilder the tattered village

In amazement as they zoom

Fast and furious behind hinged windows

To the safety of their guarded homes
To stir another round of bloodshed