forgive my shirk

grant me oh the nameless

Name

unlimited forgiveness

and overwhelming grace

when i in my nasty arrogance

in foolish forgetfulness

while breaking and smashing

idols of clay, silver and gold

tearing into pieces

icons on printed-paper

or painted canvas

molded through extreme care

and drawn with patience so rare

employing artistic mind

with untiring hand

concurrently retain in the bosom

of my petty being

the silly pride of my race, learning

and other worthless achievement

in such way covetously

ridiculing the tribe, tradition

and other earnings

of my numerous neighbors

considering silently

my puny self, more important

than those who live

and toil around me

entertaining and persisting

in that surest shirk

the groundless superstition

that the sweetest sound

surely, is my own name

henry victor     18.01.1995

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

answers premeditated

nauseating emotions

bubble inside my head

even as volcanic liquid

roll in my stomach

every time i sit with groups

of women and men questing

after questions with answers

premeditated and easy

confirming established prejudices

leaving no space for timid, tentative

rejoins, which may be closer to truth

to set free women, men and children

© henry victor     30.09.2003

refusing myself

 

i love to accept all those who come to me

and all they bring to me to sell

to exchange, or to give as gifts

both grace and all mercy

but my smallness thwarts my deed

refusing that is not my race, color, or creed

snubbing, also, my own breed

giving freely into my control, my greed

with this i also refuse myself grace

like refusing a beggar who seeks to plead

or a debtor requesting yet another chance

but let freely a cheater to defraud

© henry victor     30.08.2003

volcanic stink

 

as i sit with women and men

questing after questions

with premeditated easy answers

confirming established prejudices

leaving no space even for timid

and tentative rejoins closer to truth

with potentials to set free women

and men with their children

my brain bubbles inside my head

with nauseating emotions rolling

like volcanic liquid in my stomach

prompting a run to the little room

© henry victor     30.09.2003

month-end pay-packet

a month-end pay-packet, now, i collect not
but i continue waking before the sun wakes
stretching feet many hours after the sun sets
picking crumbs falling from greased wallets

and buy, cook, and lay tables for animals

sleeping until the sun warms their butts
with only purpose to empty the bulbs
the tax money from hard working nests

do i, then, call mine a living soul, or a machine

paying bills? do i, then, smile and dance, or whine
and kill my urge to plod? do i, then, wake-up
and strike, or yawn in my grave, before i sleep

30.06.2014