Poverty at Bay

Poverty
Crushed us all
In small spaces
Now
We live
Continents apart
Comfortable places
Trading
Memories
Family recipes
Silly jokes
Little snippets
Of private gossip
Occasionally
Chattering
Non-stop

Poverty
Taught us all
Resilience
Applied labour
Seldom relying
Only on expected
Brilliance
Humility
A sharp sense of community
Chasing success
Displaying
Modest
Tenacity
Bywoner status
No longer
Our reality

Poverty
Kept us all
Closely connected
Solidarity
A commonality
Mostly
Avoiding
Major calamities
Burying
Losses
Celebrating
Victories
Survival
Less dependent on
Inheritance
False vanity
Rising above
Indigent labels
Casually
Courting
Survivalist's dignity

Bywoner means tenant in Afrikaans.

Simone Beatrice Naik Noemdoe, 2011-08-06