Curtain Call

Those who did, paid, resurrected:
found that life goes on.
Those that put a lid on it, held back, pressed on
for ‘dignity’s sake’:
found that who they were remained mystery.
In the end, all are gone
and what matters
is how we crawled towards the end:
In style and swagger,
winking at death;
Or timid and cautious,
begging for more
time, risk, the good pain
-apologising for disrespecting first chance,
knocking for second luck,
wishing we’d been stronger.

Copyright © 2021 Tebogo Ndlovu

PS: Inspired after reading the poem ‘Rosebud’ by J. S. Campbell, found in his anthology On Driftwood and Oblivion. This poem is not necessarily an interpretation of his poem ‘Rosebud’.

My books have finally arrived in paperback from across the ocean:
Under The Tamarind Tree by Rosaliene Bacchus
On Driftwood and Oblivion by J. S. Campbell
Girls Who Don’t Believe by Paul Broome

I still want to get my hands on the other books on my list such as The Stories Inbetween by River Dixon. Was not possible, this time, to get everything at once.