racism: a reverse evolution

i put on the skin of a prairie buffalo

to keep my chin up cheerfully

at a time when i am unemployed

in this land of plentitude of prejudice

my wearing of this skin for too long

makes my heart pound like a buffalo’s

even as i now feel like this hardy creature

becoming extinct in its chosen territory

the stink emanating from this skin

permeates into to my blood stream

feeding my brain to think like a buffalo

as i roam in this green land

i have in the past heard of reincarnation

and have explored the natural selection

as i studied in school theories of evolution

but reverse i see: an immigrant to a buffalo

henry victor      25.04.2007

caged puppy

am i not that caged puppy

running around, within that wire mesh

barking, and playing with toys

belonging not to self

unlike the little dog

i know that i am caged

with sloppy freedom

to flee, or fly higher

© henry victor     20.03.2004

the Lord’s prayer in the margin

our God in the margin

help us cast away your marginality!

let your rule move in from the margin

let the distress of the marginalized

be our prime concern

as it is yours in heaven!

prevent us daily stealing food from the margin

forgiving our ignorance of past plundering

even as we begin, now, to release a little from the middle

disturb us when we are complacent of the margin

delivering us from our selfish affluence

for sovereignty belongs to those in the margin

for they dictate my faith, my practice

and even my seat in the hereafter

now, and always. Amen.

© henry victor     22.10.2003

  

at the edge

most of the moments these days

i am free of that terminal illness
the masses name, ‘healthy hope’!

these days i let my intuition and pangs

guide me when and where i catch
my crabs, creatures with protest
eventually yielding to my cravings!

at the edge neither the rules

written down by the modern
aristocrats nor noises the masses
spit out direct my directions!

from nothingness to nothingness

i slide with no care
like a kid on the slide
in the urban playground!

and at the edge of my ridge

with neither wants nor hope i stand
with readiness to exchange
the loin cloth, my present pair of pants
for my birthday suit, to let go my pant!
 
henry victor      04.05.2014

abyss

my wings faltered and into an abyss

i fell from where i saw a deeper hole
within the cave of my heart, and more
i lingered there, i saw more craters

bigger, creating a deep void within

and the more i pondered that hollow
within the more frightening it became
and the gulf outside too stretched afar

i thought then with what shall i fill

that chasm deep within my soul!
from that drift, an alienation i am
how do i free myself, my being?

henry victor     01.07.2002