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

not bored

i am not bored but broken

shattered completely, like that bus-shed

in service, now vandalized by a teenager

un-named, an incarnation of indiscipline

i am not bored but empty

with my purpose, from me, stripped

and my use made naked

un-public, souls from me fleeing

i am not bored but dead

living lifeless, walking around

like those zombie in a video game

un-dead, but soon to be buried    

© henry victor        10.07.2015

deserted

deserted in the desert

of the dusk of my youth

to stagger and stumble

on the swamp of unemployment

to become trapped

in the trap of poverty

but i am now intoxicated

with red wine

that divine love demanding a dance

expecting from this toddler of grace

a demeanour of the man

who embraced

his death in loin cloth

leaving elegance

his fabric of glory to enemy

to cover shame

the stink in soul

and with cream covering

aging wrinkles

henry victor               11.10.2011  

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