The sun mounts over crumpled roofs and streets,
Beats from machetes and trombones disconcerts the air,
Brides and husbands-to-be bosa nova where joy and gossip meet.
Little ones run run past stalls,their joy sharp as knives,
Grandmas share gossip,drinking Joko Tea in chirped mugs.
While dear uncles sway,remembering old wasted lives
Smog billows from grills where meat roasts and fry,
Fires burn,mixing ululations and cheer,
Even the emaciated township dog pauses,ears to the sky.
Hubands-to-be jive,hats tilted,praising feats of might;
Ladies-in waiting in skirts that sparkle under sun.
Every furtive glance a nod and a story of delight.
As night comes,lanterns flicker in houses and alleys;
Music is tender,hearts stay buoyed and awake-
In hoboland love and joy endure amidst the pain.
Distanced I Dis connect
Disconsolate enuii
I flick the screen alive
strangers flood my space
they disparage what I use
push their disposable trash
I dismiss the ploys they use
their flashing light displays
the blur of too much choice
disturbed by airbrushed smiles
all those disjointed claims
I distrust their AI games
disquietened by false charm
my silence disconcerts
so they offer me a deal-
who needs a talking broom
disgruntled and dismayed
to have them in my house
distracted by their noise
and always fake discounts
their loud discordant gush.
When new memories surge as wild tides,
in this spot love always abides,
my gaze goes even further,
where falling stars shatter.
Any awful feeling that existed inside
shouldn't remain, but escape and glide
as lazy clouds do on a peaceful morning...
when the breeze disconcerts their drifting.
Deluded heart, you must divest yourself
of all illusions...only look forward and laugh;
those clouds will disperse towards evening or night...
don't allow pain to distend, dissuade your thought of fright.
Let your sadness dissolve in the rising, bubbling tides,
let your disquietude also vanish in them by dim sunrise,
be uplifted by prayer and reach the sublimest state,
why discourage yourself and allow despair to fulminate?
Sit on the warm sand, watch the gleaming sea being swelled
by a full, unfriendly moon...but soon there will be relief instead:
you will have no recollection of a sad past and as your ego will rise,
you will delight your spirit when new memories surge as wild tides.
Beside the zone of traffic cones
I sat and warmed my weary bones
Outside the mission house
And drank a quart of Famous Grouse,
As traffic lights reminded me of you;
The bleary shades in blinks and fades
Like colours bled on razor blades,
Auburn love filled up your bed,
Then jealous green and angry red,
You turned my inner visions black and blue.
Beyond the road the shadows strode
The drains they filled and overflowed,
There’s a scarecrow standing in the park
Dealing with the local shark,
Closer to the edge he couldn’t be;
With whispered jerk and mannered quirk
He stammered like a grocery clerk,
I sit and watch him close the deal,
Spinning like a broken wheel,
I wonder if he’s crazier than me.
The night zooms in with neon grin,
A string of pearls to wrap me in
I cannot help but miss you, dear,
There’s nothing much to do round here,
But cover up the tracks of where I’ll be;
My heart retreats with missing beats,
The living dead tread on these streets,
You couldn’t know how much it hurts,
Breaks my heart and disconcerts,
How I wish that you were here to gather me.
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