Someone

Angifi Dladla There is Someone, or a presence, I am not sure; but I feel it driving me – a voiceless passenger, in cycles. Sure of my way, I sometimes feel like changing track as if there’s a radar within. I dodge wounds, tears; I bump into friends, stairs. Deaf to the feeling, I dive, dive deep into a den of fangs and claws. Calm, I escape. Then I tremble, I sweat. Neither my wits nor my muscles could shame such death. As youths we always plunged into a canyon – home of a two-headed monster. We defied parents and passers-by; but today I would never, ever try even if promised to win a lottery! The other season I was deep in the heart of flames where fury is pumped. I burned man, I burst into flames with no help even from the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Today, those flames are within, lighting the path for people between life-and-death, between snipers and strikes. So, Someone, or, this presence, is older, wiser than reason. It has paws obeying cat’s laws ? soft as placebo, light as pumice, hard as claws to tend, condition, goad, and launch!