Poetry Corner

Realisation

Sometimes reality pains
A playboy suddenly
Seeing his wrinkled face in the mirror
And his heart sinking when he remembers
Those mirror images are not transpositions
But they are,
Reflections of reality in rotated form!

It pains an actor in theatre
Poor in reality
Seamless garbs mended numberless times
Nameless outfits disgustful and annoying
Worthless character who shudders at the sight of anyone
Oh how big he is as a dramatis persona
But as true dawn comes
Rays flushing and beaming
So does he remember?
His true self.

The lawyer who never won a legal argument
His clients came, they signed and failed
His litigation was inadequate and his advocacy
Insufficient
The accountant whose practice never started
Balance sheets failing, his reputation ailing
Ratios not analysing, auditors chasing
The journalist who never became an editor
Stories were always torn down to shreds of news and tucked
In the no readership middle of pages
Downsized to worthless narrations
The onus is with those who will conduct his autopsy
To come up with the proper epitaph!

It takes the consoler’s compassion
To weigh the tears
Of a failed politician
Dreams took him years
Fantasies took him generations
Fiestas, siestas and sleeps
Bravados, bragging, lies and swearing
Never to become a president
Oh not even a minister
Speeches delivered, heard and forgotten
It takes the consoler’s compassion, to weigh his tears!
Sometimes realisation burns
Wet grass rained and watered, and parches the throats
Of fish in flowing oceans and rivers
And when it’s the sorrowful face
Of a Prince who never became a King
Not even a group leader in his class
Would be subjects pelted him with stones and eggs
It takes the empathy of the praise singer
To write his obituary!

It takes the connoisseur’s taste buds
To bury the Cook who never became a Chef
His cuisines were rejected at the tables
Waiters and waitresses returned in shame
Heads lowered down, their focussing lenses almost drying
From blurring embarrassment
Their irises breaking to pieces
This cook
Whose ingredients were doubted and menus rejected
It takes the connoisseur’s taste buds
To bury the unfortunate Cook
Who never became a Chef!

Realisation weans a calf and culls its mother
Realisation removes a sheaf and uproots the stem
Cruel and uncompromising
Painful and humiliating!
Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa