ABSENT DAD, PRESENT DAD.
ELEGY 101
! Silent screams, dry tears
Insomniac nightmares, sweet pain!
Feigning shadows of your presence but none
ever fills the void space that you occupy...
mom raises me the way she see it fit
not that I blame her, it’s not her fish to fry
absent dad, present dad.
Intoxicating booze sedates haunting false reminiscences
and cigarette smoke blurs galleries of thoughts
for an infant you left and absence made heart grow fonder
sadly, yours became infinite
and the wound bleeds showers of blood
which I turn to ink
and let the pen interpret what’s on my mental typewriter
absent dad, present dad
absent dad, present dad.
.
© Musa Gift Masombuka 2018
In the poem, the speaker yearns for a father whom he has not seen but rumour has it that he is still alive out there. This poem becomes an elegy of hope for reunion.
