They enter the bus
Conversing
About busses
Like this one
And other passengers
Taking up space
Designated for them
They do not address us
But clearly
They are talking about
Us
Like they sit in the lobby
In cheap chartered hotels
Taking up space
Conversing
About other guests
Being loud
Or obnoxious
They do not address us
Or ask who we are
But clearly
They assume
And they are talking
About us

Carassius auratius auratius
exhibited
live
in live blenders
for our sake

Would you
out of curiosity
or simply
if you had the chance
push the button
and destroy
lesser life?

He used to be
used to have a name
a family
but he killed them
shot them dead

To the system
he is a number now
an ex human
excluded
exiled
in his own country
and sentenced
to extermination
someday

Until then
is silence
forever
days upon days
of gradual removal
from their consciousness
and from life
outside

But now we know
and we will not forget
Gene Hathorn
or his story
we will fight
the dehumanising system
we will tell his story
and we will make people
think
and act
like human beings

...and what if I took it
just once
took the ticket
and let go of a day
let it pass
with my conscience flowing
my whole being dissolved
with the substance in my saliva
and the fires in my brain

And what if...
I let existence be an eruption
of emotion
and sensory floods
of fluid, fluorescent light
If I took it
would I be able to let go
and be me
again...

On a late night walk
just to get some air
I picked it up
outside one of the hotels
and walked around with it
sometimes in my arms
sometimes hanging on my shoulder
later dragging after me
leaving traces of red
on the pavement
but I kept it
for comfort
in crowded places
It allowed me to sit anywhere
until I remembered
that it was supposed to be a short walk
and I returned it
the red chair
at the hotel
where I found it
before I returned
to my dream

at least now
I know
that you're safe
though silent

A lot of words
saved up
sorry about
the flood

flickering
flittering
thoughts like butterflies
tinkering
tampering
with my mental state
shimmering
slithering
serpentine dreams of
tippety
tapping
words on the page
like beautiful
bubbles of
thoughtful babble
rattle
rant
but I can't
thoughts are butterflies
and they fly
they defy
me
when I try
to catch them

I saw the great change in him
After he saw the nyanga
As if something was tailing him
Something sinister from the Okawanga

He wanted to gain mental strength
That was why he sought witch doctor help
So together they went to great lengths
To summon the Tokoloshe for this whelp

Born of ****** and sinister thought
The foul creature was called to this world
And a wake of ill doings it brought
Causing fear in each boy and each girl

With this new friend he didn’t need me
But he still needed praise and accept
So he brought me along just to see
How he ***** a girl whose blood he kept

In a bottle for pride in his deed
After he killed her and chopped her up
“I was brought there to watch her bleed”
That’s what I said, when I told the cop

The Police came and took him to jail
But the Tokoloshe followed him inside
Soon he vanished, no trace, not a trail
And rumours said Tokoloshe helped him hide

No one saw him for several days
But a rise in disappearances occurred
And soon he revealed his wicked ways
He stole belongings from his victims, I heard

So, he was caught again but not held for long
His Tokoloshe had not finished yet
It was his purpose to match evil with wrong
And **** and **** whomever he would get

18 months he was on the loose
Sometimes aiding police investigations
He would help them pick up the clues
So he could re-live the gory exhilaration

They could only find partial remains
Tokoloshe had made him use his axe
Rather thoroughly and thrown them off trains
He made sure souls would never relax

When they caught him the final time
He was smiling with satisfaction
He felt no sense of remorse for his crimes
Now he hangs as the judge’s reaction

Tokoloshe is still hiding somewhere
Coming out at night when your dreams are deep
Wreaking havoc and causing a scare
Biting toes, ****** women in their sleep