As one night I traversed between
Familiar ponds and waterholes.
The mirth and pep of cobblestone catacombs
Traversing also
And lingering languid with the interminable vapours of combustion.
I approached a woman,
Plain,
But radiating a genre of beauty obsolete.
Our trajectories to cross,
I half-stepped, swung, and made to speak,
‘Madame, if you may fancy but a drink?’
To which she did not so much as glance,
But brushed me off
And kept steady on her path.

I lose myself in love
I lose myself in the blade in my wrist
I lose myself in the nicotine
I lose myself in the alcohol

But for once
Just once
I want to
                f
                    i
                        n
                             d
myself

'the truth is that I,
objects within none and yet,
reaches indoors to all there is,
Humanity...
heartfelt redemption is unsettling 'performances' for 'many',
liberation for 'some' it seems,
while 'few' are awake in the sleep of 'their' deeds.'

Because if I do
I’ll fall apart
And I want to be strong
For whenever you need a shoulder

may ayim
african-german
poetess
essayist

co-established the
term "black german"
decades ago

until then germans would
call a person of color a "neger"
(and too many still do so)

however one
of the most inspiring
talents
took her own life:

august 9
1996

that's it.

god bless you
may ayim