Songs of Anisha
“Passage,”
by Eric Atie
I am the dark that creaks
From those little embers of light
Fierce, fringed, but free
I am darkness, defined again:
Pure and brute
I am the dark that makes the light shine bright
Bound by nuptials of raging fury
And cowardly service
Only by my side does the sun stand proud
Plagued by the withering leash
I stand untamed…
Gazing at the corners of the moon’s eyes
A ragged silhouette
Breaching light’s salient watch
I am the dark that lurks before the shadow of the sun:
I am the forerunner.
“Exit,”
by Changming Yuan
Not to overstate this
But for hundreds of times
I have imagined myself
Leaving for the Congo basin
Like a dying elephant
So that I can bury myself there
In total obscurity and oblivion
As if I had never come to this
World. Yes, I am really haunted
By this suicidal whim
Not because I am tired of
Suffering from this unbearable
Loneliness, anxiety
That makes me a living dead
But because I long
For that ultimate dignity
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