Sometimes, when you look outside
What do you see?
People hustling
People laughing
Busy, busy people
Running children
Laughing as they play…
In their dirty school uniforms
Woman selling their wares
How does the air feel?
Fresh, windy?
The trees seem to dance don’t they?
Happy clouds float without a care
In the blue, blue endless sky
And in the middle of it all…
The sun shines down on us
To light the world
But it can’t light the darkest recesses
Hidden in people’s hearts
It can’t chase away the shadows lurking in people’s eyes
The sheen of desperation and broken dreams
They walk around each other
Many as the mingling ants
But they can’t see the loneliness
The pain in each other’s posture
The worry that weighs down like an anchor
The fetid odor of gloom that hangs in the air…
Like a malicious phantom
Waiting to devour anyone who slips up
But so many hold on,
Fear their driving factor.
It has conquered them
Left them mere shells of themselves
They fear…everything
There is no peace…
Hearts and minds are constantly at war with each other
They call out
Tell their outer shell…
Call for help
We are not whole
No…. the answer they receive
Life must go on
We don’t have time for such issues
And with that… life does go on
In a dark and gloomy rhythm
As a tortured soul cries out
But cannot be heard
All that is seen is the hustling man
The women selling their wares
The laughing mechanics
The busy student
The playful child
And…the occasional madman
Until the melody of life
Grinds to a jarring halt
When the playful child drowns themselves
The busy student ODs
The hustling man is found dangling from the ceiling
And Mama Mboga is found dead in her bed
Through it all… the madman just laughs
Why should he care?
After all, this reality is not his own.
The sun still shines without a care
The trees dance and sway to a song only they can hear
The breeze whispers sweet nothings
A people shocked into the gut wrenching reality
That a beautiful smile hides a wailing soul
That a playful demeanor hides a broken human
That a hardworking spirit hides one bogged down and broken by expectations
And the worst realization is…
… no one knows who will be next…
So I ask you this…
What do you see when you look outside the window?
©Gihihi?
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