I see an old black man
walking slowly in a park
and think — YES
for you are used to forests
leaves green, bright, fresh
- no crispy edges -
and all the birds.
Lord
what…

now he has his own time
at last,
all he wants is a small cottage
in a forest
near grandma’s place,
where they played poo-sticks
dropped faithfully into water
- rushed -
from one side of bridge to the other
- laughing -
to see them emerge
like a magic trick…

how is it ok
for a barefoot man
to beg sniffling on a train,
for change,
for food,
for a little bit of comfort,
struggling
to get the words out,
struggling
not to cry again,
struggling
just to live
in one of…

“Spare some change today Maud?”

Maud was shocked he wasn’t dead yet. She looked up from oat flat white and her plate of sourdough toast, smashed avocado and poached egg, and gave him a self-conscious smile.

Over the last 7 years, she had seen him deteriorate. Gain a black eye…

Yaa saw the girl outside, from her chair next to the window of the Lebanese restaurant on Edgeware Road, pacing. Young, pretty, black long hair pulled into a off-centre ponytail. Zebra-print trainers, grey tracksuit bottoms, big overcoat. Black polished nails. Headphones in, phone in hand. …

The mad woman on the roundabout looked young, early 30s. Not yet wrinkled or covered in dust. Almost normal. The only tell-tale signs her slightly matted wig, the fact she slept there at night. There were plenty of women awake on the roundabout in the dark, standing together or evenly…

we hiked green hills
all day in brown heat,
sweat through t-shirts,
tried to be brave
for each other’s sake,
stretched feet rock to rock
careful not to fall,
held hands as if to help,
let feelings shimmer
just beneath the surface,
invisible to eyes
who thought we were
just good friends…

our ancestors
leave wisdom deep
in the backs of our brains,
reach hands in
to plant more as we grow,
snatch out cankers of fear,
guide us, nourish us,
a never-ending daisy chain.

our ancestors,
show us the path back to ourselves,
souls severed from lineage,
thrown across seas,
raised out of context
like…