Songs of Anisha
“A Life Elsewhere,”
by Obakanse Lakanse
Three aimless streets have brought me here
To contemplate the holy mien of my goddess
She’s outside with her mum, doing the family’s laundry in the sun
But strangely, now that I am here, my heart, I find, goes out to her mum
Her chalked, hydropathical face… The fluidity of her smiles in puddles
I am a Christian; I’m not judgmental about people, things and flies
In setting out, I had combed my manners into neat, proper patterns
Polished my speech with a sparkling toothpaste
And perfumed my body with some dash of cash….
But am I really cut for this? – To be a toy in someone’s bedroom farces?
Haunted by things, I behold a grey abstraction rise in the east,
And hold at bay the brisk shadows in Madam’s gilded stare
Shamefacedly, I cast furtive glances at some speck in the mute sky above
And something tells I’m here, denying other men of their love.
“I Am Not In Love,”
by Abigail George
All my life
I have never been in love
Until this very moment
In love with sunlight
On my fingertips,
Art hung on walls in galleries,
The spoken word and your
Kindness.
Your infinite kindness.
Here time knows no beginning or end.
It stands still.
Is that what Einstein meant by the
Theory of relativity?
Or is it when we debate and define
The edge of reason, madness, desire and
infinity.
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