The Sins Of the Father
Ismael was my childhood friend;
The boy who ‘had it all’.
He was the kind with ‘balls made of steel.’
He was the shield for the small children as
He would get at the bullies with everything he got.
Ten years later, he was experiencing an eclipse in his life.
His once aluminium tongue turned to lead.
His knotty hair boasted little acquaintance with the comb.
Ismael had a self-love deficit.
A biblical leper would have had a better chance
Of being accepted by friends and family.
He said it was because of the ‘sins of the father’.
Ismael is now a child of complex family situations,
Carrying burdens that weigh more than his bones.
“There is nothing good to turn to like the beginning,” he says.
The beginning has only answers, no dilemmas, no restrictions.
Still we both know that;
Like all good things, the beginning is ephemeral.
nabimanyaviola 