Tuesday 14 April 2015

For the love of poetry, for the love of you- A letter to my Father

A LETTER TO MY FATHER

I am delighted my dear Father,
Delighted to write you this letter
Though deep in my heart l know,
Know it may never reach you
So Father l have my fingers crossed
Praying and hoping the post-man will do me a favour
And deliver this letter to you

Father l wrote to say, to ask and to seek
Father you left my side before l had hatched,
You left before l could judge the world
My mind still too young to understand why two plus two makes four
Father l ask,
‘’Are you satisfied that you left a clueless, innocent child behind you’’
Reply in your next letter

This is a letter to you Father
To remind you that the chick has grown into a hen
I have grown into a young maiden
Full of questions and wonder
My heart beats fast in search of wisdom
And then l smile and think how it would have been nice
Nice to write to you and ask
‘’ Father am l now old enough to own a male “
How anxiously l would have waited for your reply
And what you would have wrote would have been my command

Father they say a lot about me
The male say lm proud ,
The females naive.
But l am not Father
All l know it that lam lost ,
Lost in a world l do not own
I seek for answers my dear Father
You are a man and have gone through a lot,
Now l ask
“How does one know they are in love and he in turn feels for her?”
I plead, try and reply.

It would have been lovely
To speak to you face to face
Shy l would have been but confidence l would have regained
For you are my Father
It’s a shame you and l can never meet
For we now belong in different worlds
Though apart we might be in flesh
In hearts and memories we will remain in each other

By Amanda Ranganawa

For the love of poetry, for the love of you- Young Women

                                          Young Women
                              By Amanda Ranganawa (2014)
                           
                            Young women value yourself
                                         Credit yourself
                      And stop debiting and owing yourself
                      You are more than the hips and thighs
                                      Peaches and cream
                         Its not about how low you can go
                                  Or dropping it like its hot
                           
                          You are the dream that is realised
                             The talent that is motivated
                          The strength that carries the brain
                            The heart that carries passion
                         The shoulders that lift the nation