For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Hope is like a leopard. Even when it is there, you often have to make a concerted effort to find it. That has been my experience, anyway. Hope is an elusive creature, shy and unobtrusive. But she is exquisitely beautiful. And once you see her, once her image is imprinted on your mind, she is... Continue Reading →
I have felt sad and alone for as long as I can remember. So when you say that you feel sad and nobody understands, you are wrong. Me and depression have a long history together. If you had been a reader, which I accept you are not, you would have possibly read this blog already.... Continue Reading →
Looking back at it now, I begin to appreciate just how terrified you must have been. I suspect that unless you have lived in Africa and encountered them up close, it is difficult to comprehend just how massive an elephant truly is, and just how small you are in comparison. We had come around the... Continue Reading →
You don’t get to choose where you are born, nor the body you are born into. You get what you get and you don’t complain. Well, you can complain but there is no point. There are no returns and no refunds. Another year is gone, and, as we celebrate another year together as pilgrims on... Continue Reading →
I remember so vividly the day you were born. I remember how you woke mom in the early hours of the morning (you always have been an early riser) and then took your time actually arriving. Even nine years on, I remember the long (17) hours’ wait, where the whole world seemed to be condensed... Continue Reading →
There will eventually come a time when you will be old enough to read and understand these birthday messages. I picture a future you, having just discovered these, poring curiously over this message. And I cannot help but wonder how much of this year you remember. It has, without a doubt, been one of the... Continue Reading →
As I write this, a week before your birthday, I am sitting four hundred kilometres away from you. It is nine o’ clock in the morning and it is already 30 degrees outside. The air is heavy with the heat. The cicadas hum steadily in the background and somewhere in the nearby acacias I can... Continue Reading →
I have been to enough of your concerts now that I am no longer surprised that you do your own thing and refuse to just follow the crowd. While all of the other children at your graduation sat, still and compliant, you participated fully in each moment: you mouthed the words to other classes’ songs,... Continue Reading →
I apologise that this will not be my most eloquent piece. I write it as I watch you sleep, with a drip attached because you have had your tonsils taken out and you refuse to drink. We had other plans to make your birthday special, but – not surprisingly - you had other ideas. I... Continue Reading →
Vapors In The Wind 