Ayilara 1980

Agama lizard -
orange and blue exclamation
on a concrete wall

Baking on asbestos sheets
Spread beneath our kite-stitched sky

A vee of egrets
fluttering fingers follow
white chevrons on nails

Palms slap against old rubber
Tyres race on broken asphalt

Dogs chasing the street
a tangle of arms and legs
marks our homeward flight

Sudden fright at the back gate -
A red hen has hatched her brood

Elastic moments
stretched before sleep
remembering,
Forty-Second Street

***-on the balcony, watching kids playing outside. Supposed to be working on proposal due on Monday...

So often
And sadly
Too often
This salesman existence
Wears thin

I can see
Through my skin
Into you
Your reason for being
And soul

I counter
And cajole
And convince
You must know this ritual
Accept

Don't dawdle
Drag it out
Go ahead

Masturbate
Your ego
Ejaculate
From your mouth



***- I sometimes have to make a sales pitch to rather self-important people.