It starts off as an ordinary day,
four alarms ring at fifteen minute intervals and I lay
there half awake between thought and dream.
Like a maid or mother she knocks loudly on the door...
'Wake up it's late! '
And truly it was- the dream had died till another night,
a species extinct in the world of thought.No habitat
on waking hours for this creature of the night,
so he hides himself as an imperfect plan
or fleeting memory. Big bird clipped of its wings
and forced to play a chicken. An alien tormented
by unknowing consciousness. Sad that a father
should forget his son, and call him madness
when he speaks. This house; this mind
should be enough for both, but choice
brings the bias and one-sided path
that leads to forgetfulness,
and the justification they call 'growing up'.
As if adults do not dream.
'I'm awake! ', I scream.
How false, how foul that I should rise up today,
no better a man than I was yesterday.
Nkululeko Mdudu
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/awake-27/
