JEREMIAD:'THE TWISTED COIN' BY ARTYST MSAFIH POETICS

Waking up in the streets of Soweto, something that I do not want to recall, even if I could have a time machine never wished to rewind.

But it remains as printed picture in my mind, how life use to be before the waking up from sweet nightmare dreams to the dark reality.

Sometimes never wish dreams to be true for not all turn to be good.

Nothing in mind to rewind,

Where was I before …?

What had happened behind?

Wait the clue

About this flue

That has glued me after that cup,

What a lifeless breakfast. 

My life was creamy 

Back in Lagos

I never thought 

Life will give me such a slap

That took me into a deep sleep

Once beaten twice shy 

Yes but mine is not worthy

Better I could be shy before the beating

Pride was my dress

How I found myself in South Africa

We just need a cup of tea

Or a walk along the sea

They outsmarted my mind

I knew that they were kind

Ooh! I was just blind

Sleeping rich

And you wake up empty

A nightmare for sure!

They gave me  this turn

They had played well

Turning my heaven into hell

The world to my cell

All were snatched away from me.

The sunshine was not friendly that day

It was noon time when I woke up from that sleep

I don’t know for how long my mind was not sound

The last time I checked my watch …

It was 08:00hrs G.M.T back in Lagos

‘It is 12:00 noon South African time 2019’ this was heard from the streets

Coming from the radio,

The news broadcast got me with a big bang

Flipping my mind to 2 years ago

When lastly I saw the sunrise and sunset  

I’m lost 

This coin is twisted

Somebody tell me what happened

Where are they 

To show me the way

Not really am I insane?

No, these pages cannot be me

How now did I reach here?

Why can’t I speak?

Wait, this not me?

Good morning 

Not even afternoon

Was good

Dull was my moon

Pity was I in mourning

Who could help me? 

Please give me answers 

I knew nobody within the city

My life is in calamity

Empty is the society

Looking around, the street was busy people were up and down search for their daily bread. I decided to get up and find my way to no destination since Soweto was strange to me. My body was very tired I thought someone injected me with some dangerous drugs.

Just after making some; one, two three steps I saw an old piece of printed paper, staring at it I captured by the title in it, I took so that I could read what it contained. It was a piece poem written by Artyst Msafih Poetics;

The coin:

Amazingly nothing to chew

Eyes blinded by the sand dew

Forced to look for my glasses that I threw

Mindlessly walking and falling

Comprehensive to me as a rolling stone

For I collected no moss 

The field is thorny

Piecing the hands and itching my feet

But still won’t accept defeat

Hot is my only seat

Life got me crawling

And tearing in agony

No droplets left in store

My heart in sour

The sunrise become my spear

Dressing me with fear

I won’t swear

That happiness has been rear

Or what I am, where is that rhythm for me to hear

No good to bear

Why did you not spare

My lovely teddy 

It is missing

Where is the dancing

Remember the dancing

That was back in time

When life used to shine

Before it turned to lime

Hope to wake up in my dreams

Though the heaven remained in the dark curtains

Maybe I should close my eyes to get the reality

All in vein and illusions

Drowning in thoughts

Nothing best for solutions

The coin is twisted

And mine is worse.

The poet personae speaks about someone who has been kiddnaped for two years. He wakes up and he finds himself in another land. Back in his home he is rich, but he finds himself with nothing, because his goodlife has been twisted to the worse.

ARTYST MSAFIH POETICS-KENYA

©2022

ANONYMOUS COMMENT:

I was shocked by the poem, because it talked almost what had happened to me. Was the writer aware or is it a coincidence? Maybe this was the answer to my many questions that my coin had been twisted and it is no longer valuable.

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