Daughter's Block

The stumbling block
That’s only visible to me
Too heavy to shift from my throat
And let me speak
Is in reality a pebble
Which has been carried by the current
Through the years of my journey
Without getting any smoother.

Sometimes I’ve tried to hide it in my shoe
But every step I took
I knew it was still there.

This daughter’s block
That silences my words
While amplifying the emotions inside my head
I want to see it shattered before my mind’s eye.

Visualize it
Interiorize it
Memorize it
For soon the time comes
When obedience and freedom marry
And I choose to bless my parents
With the revelation of who I really am.

Beyond Romance

I love romance, butterflies in the stomach, fast heartbeats on the phone, long lingering kisses, cuddles, that sense of magic, even flowers...
But a hothouse flower does not compare to a stalk of corn nurtured on sub-Saharan soil by a family whose survival depends on it,
Paying for it with their lives of early rising and walking bear feet to draw water which the scorched soil will drink,
Praying for good rains and for mercy from the rich man giving fertilizer;
With corn, when s**t happens, well, even that helps it to grow stronger.
Through unrelenting work, the fruit of a labour of love - many ears of golden corn will be shared to feed all in the community.
So - this Valentine's, look beyond romance and cultivate true love!

Inspirational People (making dining tables out of pedestals)

Inspirational season
flavoured by encounters
with inspirational people
who are climbing upwards
not stepping on the flowers
but radiating inner beauty
even extending a hand
to those who refuse to look to the summit
of this mountain of hurdles
- life on Earth.
This is the season
to make dining tables out of pedestals;
I no longer invite
my favourite inspirational people
to take their place on a podium
from which they might easily fall
but I lay a colourful cloth
a few bowls, a warm candle,
and scatter around cushions
that we might all commune
eat, talk and plan the next
inspirational season