He was born during the Black of July,
Raised during the JVP up-rise,
During the war, he went to school
His dad he lost, in a train bombing too soon.
His mother slaved herself giving tuition,
A public-school teacher she was,
She made sweet treats during the night,
And had them sold in a shop next to a bus depot.
For many years, she searched,
Searched to find the mountain ,
The mountain of victory, the one that she set out ,
In search of a vision, a perspective from atop.
One night, tired and weary, she cried out,
In total abandon, to end the climb
A sore heart that never saw the promises realized ,
She wept in the forest , amongst Kapoc and Fig.
Caught red handed!
She feared for her life,
The old woman who saw her,
Leaving her infant behind.
‘The child you birthed was born in you,
Long before you saw the light of this world.
This is a beautiful but a strange thought,
A force of nature with a free-will of power’.
She walks the city like a stranger,
The city of her youth,
The liberation from tradition,
She was most used to,
The city that pushed her off the cliff,
To learn how to fly for the first time.
She tells herself that she could buy shoes,
Louis Vuitton maybe,
But these once desired wants,
Seem not to want maybe,
Then she says that she could,
Go dine in a fancy restaurant,
The expensive ones she used to wash dishes at,
Perhaps order some champagne.
He looked up and then looked afar,
His eyes met the valley of Jerico,
The door of promise left ajar,
The endless view as far as Zoar.
He sighed like a man who had seen it all,
Like a king who had conquered an inheritance,
Like a great wise man who knew His call ,
Heard His voice and saw His all.
She sits at her window,
Waiting for something to stir,
The monotony of her days,
The days too long and nights too cold.
She waits for the sound of the fishmonger,
The postman who only brings her bills,
The bickering of the couple next door,
Quarrelling over little things.
The merchant of the East,
The trader whose gold,
Adorned the heads of kings,
And the long reigning queens.
His fortune added to nothing,
The emptiness was never fulfilled,
The prestige his money bought.
For a long while now it seems.
So he wasted no time,
And sold all his wealth,
Gave it to a worthy cause,
And distributed the rest.