30 Days... 30 Posts: Day Sixteen

my feet are tired and hurting
this shuffle feels endless but I keep on

my shoulders are tense boulders unable to relax and let go
it ain't heavy but it is cumbersome

I can carry it



the ground is now cold and wet
I cannot fall without getting wet and frozen
that disturbs me

until you reached out to me

I saw your hand and didn't want to grasp it at first

I knew that its warmth was too hot for me to handle
with bare skin and too rigid from age and experience
for me not to want to read your palm

but I grabbed it anyway

You skipped, I walked
You kept skipping,
I strolled... knowing that the pace was right

You stumbled, I grabbed you
and your hand slipped out of mine

I looked down and you were gone.
You were inexplicably in front of me
paces away right back to skipping

I asked you to slow down and walk with me
the sidewalk got crowded and it got too loud




distance





you got smaller and smaller in the crowd
somewhere away from where I was, still walking

DAMMIT STOP RUNNING!!!

you stopped out of concern and to close the gap.
I opened my mouth to speak

and somebody stepped on my damn toe


mother fucker!


I hobbled home, blood in my shoe.


and I went to bed
determined to walk another day.




copyright 2006 Hassan Ntimbanjayo