Harasser

offspring from lawless state
evil sexual predator
thought your fancy doctorate
gave you rights above all others

you hired me for your project
measuring skeletons and X-rays
thought you'd nail the village idiot
you never dreamed I'd get away

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Fearless

(1)
my page is full of boxes
checked off in so many ways
with more than half a dozen mixes
I’m what my gene test says

(2)
woman of colour, a working mother,
low in the pecking order
I earned my stripes, I did my time
never sought favours,
it made me stronger

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selfDeborah Mannas
Happy Families

As I pass by happy families
parents, children, strolling by
I wonder if beneath are stories
of more than just what meets the eye
that look, that glance, that glimpse of interest
I know they wonder, same as I

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Knotted

I don’t brush my hair
the handfuls that fall out irk me
drifting on clothes and floors
and trailing naked arms ticklingly

Neat hair is less of it;
better a dreadlocked combover
clumped wing-length in a disorganised mess
and the remainder of youth

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AgingDeborah Mannas
Girl Child

I see a lush garden
chiccos, mangoes, papayas,
guavas thrive
flowers live along side:
roses, lilies, dahlias, and
queen of the night
has just closed her arms
waiting to embrace another dusk.
a small white fluffy Pomeranian
barks around me frantically,
birds in overhanging branches
tweet cheerfully,
welcoming the sun.

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There'll Come A Time

There'll come a time
when the world will be ruled
by people who want peace
do you want to be part of those people
or do you want to trap yourself
in a world of vice and hatred
where he and she are different species
where they and we are not to be mated
where black and white are not tolerated
together

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