Her name is precious
at least that's what i named her
I found her a block from my house
alerted to her presence
by a whimper on the sidewalk
The pavement was whispering to me
help, help, someone, anyone, help
call me curious
i delved within the tangled mess
of old politics, old promises and old policies
of filthy rags, bunched up newspapers and old cardboards
and there discovered my precious
a ragged, wet and scared cat
beaten by the words of her unforgiving sons
ragged from the exploitation of what makes her beautiful
scared from the interventions
of powerful lobbies and superpowers
yet i could still see the beauty in her eyes
it was still freezing
but I had ceased to be cold
I raised her up
lifted her to my self
and carried her home
dropped her in the shower
turned on the hot water
and waited for what would emerge
waited amidst the emerging moans of pleasure and pain
until she finally emerged
This tiny thing
lost in the bundling of all my towels
her shy colour
peeking shyly through her skin
color patches playing hide and seek on
her smooth skin
relieved of the burden
of the dirt and grime
of 50 years of perceived self determination
encapsulated in stagnation
the time had come
for her to shed off
years of neglect
and trade them
for the natural look for the future
My precious
