Member Poem

i

I do not belong here,
passion has brought me into this place.

The walls here are full of faces,
Familiar faces of street urchins
Who beg solemn alms from dawn to dusk.

I am here in this place of tussles
Where muscles are stretched in the struggle for survival.

The men here hustle through thick and thin,
Only to eat the bread of sorrow.

ii

They do not sleep here,
And you dare not snooze...

The men here walk themselves into the dusk,
And watch the night sleep before their eyes.

Here is a place of unending plights
Littered with follicles of struggles...

Men find survival here,
They do with unclosed eyes.

I am here in this place of tussles
Where men rest their uneasiness behind toils.

(Appeared in SubSaharan Magazine)