never an outcast

when in my speech your voice is not heard
or, my movements make your being invisible

or, my songs do not convey your melody
or, my lines express not your poetic utterance

still i fear not a rejection but i am assured of acceptance

from you; for your embrace is not due to my conformity
to your will, my walking to the beat of your drum
that i seldom hear; nor, for it, my will is strong to submit

but my nonconformity to those who laid hands

on my head and those who claimed to love
and belong to me by blood and name and tribe
reject me, pushing me to the edge as an outcast

18.07.2014

magnanimity

i stand in front of your wide face

facing, day after day, your magnanimity
to permit tiny boats to fearlessly float
beside massive ocean liners

but i still not have learnt that art

of nobility, while you in spite
of your power and your volume
you still respect your neighbor’s line

and you never intrude into that

boundary except when angry
while i with all my smallness
always try to push my reigning

even into territories belonging not

to me expecting others to leave
room for me, with that absolute
freedom to move and reign
 
henry victor     10.06.2002