Category: Poems

Beggar Girl

Different lives, different locations;
But sharing that same condition… A beggar girl’s destiny.
Born into penury, her pockets she fills with her plea

“Oga gimme change na!
Madam help ya daughta!
Daddy I beg hep me!
Mommy gimme wata!”

As a child her innocence is her might,
Her youthful smile and laughter her charm,
With pure resilience she disarms her passerby,
Attaching herself to her prospective financier
this small frame with teary eyes lets out her angelic cry

“Oga gimme change na!
Madam help ya daughta!
Daddy I beg hep me!
Mommy gimme wata!”

She grows older; begging her career
but the older she gets, the less her financiers
Her innocence is lost with age, a woman is on the rise,
Not many pity a wondering girl in her teens as she gives off her daily cry

“Oga gimme change na!
Madam help ya daughta!
Daddy I beg hep me!
Mommy gimme wata!”

In some stories, on the streets she becomes a woman begging for her bread,
And where begging fills not her pocket, her body is often shared.
Her story is told in most corners of the world,
She is different colours, shapes and sizes yet a common “Beggar girl”.
Her call for aid is made in different languages and most mother tongues,
But here, these are the words I hear so often sung

“Oga gimme change na!
Madam hep ya daughta!
Daddy I beg hep me!
Mommy gimme wata!”

©2011 Festivalking

Words for a Hurting Heart

Past reception to love has ended in torment;
the heart has been struck hard!
It will not trust…only to gut does it cling.
To new love the heart speaks,
“Me thinks I will play pretend and wait out this episode’s end;
Surely this love that so runs amock will soon under life’s pressure get stuck!”
It waits for the snags, the mistakes, the hiccups;
To hear the words “I’m sorry”, a preview to the Breakup.
Pessimistic this once beautiful heart has become…
But can it be blamed?!
From break to break a once virgin heart aches, and is now undone.
Casting feeling aside, calculation it applies to reduce the strain of impending disgrace.
Settled in mind, “THIS is the path!” the heart decides.
Dear fraction of being, where emotions weigh strong;
Delicate, Vulnerable, yet where will is born,
I see the path you take is of despair.
The fear of feeling a stranger’s love and in turn yours share,
Is that not my friend true despair?….
Someone said “what is yours shall surely come to you.”
Trust me dear heart, these words ring true… be strong;
After the hurt, in time permit yourself heal…and when you do, please dear heart,  without reticence …LOVE that someone new.

©2011 Festivalking

Never a “WE”…

       One time I would watch this video and my heart would bleed (Laughing at my stupidity :D)….. I wanted a certain Ex of mine to see it and know that I was that woman he would regret never having…Desperate right!? ;).
Well, I’ll have you know that dreams do come true! He FINALLY made reference to the song during our conversation yesterday… Lights lit up within me and somewhere in my head I heard myself scream “YESSSS, VICTORY!!!!” 😀
Smiling as I write:

Never a “WE“, just a “YOU” and “ME“
My heart, strong and decided on staying love’s course,
  trying to make it work, while you effortlessly hurt
Adamant to make us a “WE” by force; for my pride sake I bear love’s curse.

An object of such ridicule in trying to be your friend,
Making myself available even when unwanted.

A part of you I so longed for,
But a longing that only made my heart sore…

Hail my epiphany! “looking into the mirror of my heart and staring back, a woman stripped of her pride.”
Hail my Realization! “Wishing on a dying star would bear more possibility than my love kicking against your tide.”

Permitting my love for you run its course; finally letting go, now it dawns on you!
O poor fool, now you know!

You fed off my love, yet never let it show, and confess now how for “YOU” there will never be another “ME“!?
Well THAT my dear “YOU” fills my heart with such glee.

….I feel my pride return now; A smiling woman stares back at me.

She tried and tried and tried again… but I guess “WE” was never meant to be…

©2011 Festivalking

P.S- Glad to say that dude and I are still very good friends …. 😉

Expressing me

“Good and Sad writing, Sad and Heartfelt, Good and yet painful to read”…. These are a few of the comments born of my poetic seed. It makes you wonder the sort of woman I am, but I couldn’t agree more with these observations of men. My work is sad and yes, sometimes painful, still it gives me great joy when on paper I engrave them.

Though a good number of my expression is cast in shade, from a jolly heart it is made. Known to be quite witty, yet rendering no real “Laughable Moments” in what I poetically enunciate.

So what is my Muse and what drives me? … Call me a Back-Bencher if you will, but I have always preferred to blend with the backdrop of life’s scenes; I observe human interaction, and note response to emotional stimuli. From the outside, looking in, I write what I see.

Grim as it may seem, I actually find it easier to translate human confusion, lust and sadness; I resign to reach into the depths of others, probably because I am too scared to explore my own darkness. I stare through the windows of their emotion and create an impression of their feelings; the actions of even a stranger will give my words meaning.

Unfamiliar with the art of poetry, besides nursery rhymes I recited as a child I bear little interest in the works of T.S Eliot and Oscar Wilde. Happy as any surreal artist with words to say, more than willing am I to bear the title of “Sad writer” if to some accidental reader my literary inscriptions may relate.

©2011 Festivalking

Misery’s Dam

Sad woman.
how often your eyes hold back Misery’s dam,
with ardent nerve you restrain a saline river within its gates,
A vessel full of emotion,  forever fighting to maintain your calm.
You resist the surge, yet  the cracks betray you.
From between your lids the mix of salt and water escape as  narrow streams down each side of  your face,
…A face flushed with pain.
Heart and  body ache as you keep it from vibrating  jolts of emotion coursing through your veins.
Why do you hide Sad woman?
Why do you insist on bottling this hurt inside Proud woman?
You have every right as any to feel unstrong.
Do not keep your inner wounds concealed
Permit  your tears and let your weakness be revealed
Summon up the tempest within, wail and scream as you feel
Burst open Misery’s dam; be  unashamed of your weakness and let all men see.
Let the waters of Misery’s dam come forth;
Let its river, down your face run free….
©2011 Festivalking
 
 

Our Chemical Romance

From opposite sides of the room our eyes meet

I watch you come towards me

… your hard fixed gaze on this female body.

In a crowded room our visions collide and start a spark between you and I

With your every approach my heart quivers;

  Anticipation sends my body a shiver.

Feelings raw and undefined make mockery of my mind.

As water to heated iron gives off steam, you like the water come to me

and with your every step passion is set free

as heat released from within my breasted chest…

We two… An equation of  human chemistry.

My heart flutters now as you draw closer… Prowler to the prey.

It will not rest until words are said…

And with ripe conversation and a physical reaction,

per chance it will birth our chemical romance…

©2011 Festivalking

The African Queen

“The African Queen” is what she is called
when her head is scrapped clean and bald

The African Queen
the perfect and yet ironic title for the hairless woman
who feels she has lost her mantle

The African Queen
her hairless head reflecting the suns rays
free from the stress of weaves and braids
and yet she is ashamed.

The African Queen
for in her society how is she truly seen?
Some would call her a widow, while others will say she is in mourning
Mutterers speak of the disgrace of the look she is donning
Yet they do not know and are too ignorant to see
this was not her choice nor of her own doing

The African Queen… Me
Her hair is snatched but not her pride and beauty
She finds it is within and decides to let it shine daily
Though not always easy, since she once in a while recalls
her days of long hair that made her the conventional lady

Still, I am “The African Queen”
I embrace me, and that includes my bald head along with all my being.

©2011 Festivalking

Obsessed

You set my soul on fire, yet refuse to quench it.
You I desire and thirst for,
still my love as dry as a desert floor,
you will not wet it.

I hunger for you, so why will you not feed me?
I want you so bad, so why do you not need me?
Am I that less than ordinary, that simple or just a nobody?!

I wake every morning and say a prayer for me and you,
On my heart and body parts I have your name tattooed.

I stay by my window each day to see you pass by
…Such sweet salve for my wanting eyes
I wait impatiently for the scent of you,
mmm!….fresh morning due.
I create symphonies that remind me of you;
In my head, I play movies that star only we two.

DAMN IT BOY! I’M TRYING HERE CAN’T YOU SEE?!
I’M DOING ALL I CAN TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MUCH
YOU MEAN TO ME!
HAVE YOU NOT BEEN READING MY NOTES OF LOVE AND POETRY?!
You KNOW I want you, NOW STOP BEING SUCH A TEASE!
I CAN’T BE THAT INSIGNIFICANT!
ARE YOU TOO BLIND TO SEE THIS GORGEOUS WOMAN STANDING HERE,
ARMS OPEN WIDE SO LOVINGLY?!

Okay! Okay!
I see you’re not ready for this much pressure
so I’m “backing off” as you call it, for good measure.
I’ll resign to the background of your life
and I’ll let you breathe
to avoid you bringing in the authorities.
I’ll dream of you and I’ll want you from a distance,
that will be my pleasure for the very instant.
And though you may be cautious ’cause I’m persistent,
…worry not.
I am not obsessed…Just a little turned on by your resistance.

©2011 Festivalking

War Paint

 

A slimmer face,
Narrower nose and Higher cheek bones;
Fuller lips and Dazzling eyes…
These and more you can supply.
You make my skin glow
and bless me with a radiant complexion…
I cling to you,
for you are my perfection.

My “War paint”!
My great disguise in this “cosmetic nation”.

With you I blend in,
I am Trendy and Youthful,
Sexy as sin!… I AM BEAUTIFUL!
…Without you I am insecure;
Scared of what could be seen
once I am stripped of your wondrous sheen.

Hide my blemishes, quickly!
Spare men the sight of swollen bags under my eyes!
Stay so they may pay no attention to
my aging skin and stress lines!

…Sadly this is me “au natural”;
This is me when the Vail falls.

War paint… My biggest lie!
Yet, you are the arsenal in my hunt for a guy;
you, my greatest ally.

…And so, sadly but TRUE,
it is with you all my flaws I hide,
with each layer of “war paint” I apply.

©2011 Festivalking

This is how dependent many have become on cosmetics… let’s not over do it shall we!
I say “LEARN TO LOVE YOUR LOOK!”

“Love is a Desert” – Conversation with Michael


“Hi Cousin!

How’s Love and Life” he asked,

 

My response, “Life is Grrrreat!!!;

…Love is a Desert”

He laughs,

“I find your disposition towards

the situation quite amusing” he says,

but remember everything has its season;

…Do not forget that In the desert

the rarest and MOST BEAUTIFUL

flowers bloom!

Not to worry Coz,

your time will come soon.”

“Thanks!”  I said,

“Your interpretation

of my situation

is MUCH appreciated!”

So I wait…..

…. And If love truly be a desert,

then I stay patiently for it to be wetted.

©2010 Festivalking