Holding On (English Free Verse "The Pedestrian")

Memories slowly drifting away into oblivion

What ever happened to the old days?

When art ruled the world

And beauty shaped our thoughts

Now it seems like I am standing alone

In this struggle to hold on to the past

To hold on to old values

To the old way of thinking

I constantly fight this new world

The quiet terror of it's darkness

The darkness of which I seem to be the only light

Why can't they wake up?

Can't they see they're being manipulated?

No they can't

Because they're dead

Living corpses

All they do is sit and stare at their screens

No emotion, no feeling

I am alone because I feel

SEASONS ARE AWESOME!!

I love the variety of seasons that are prevalent here in Vancouver. Coming from Africa the only season I ever experienced was summer. Average temperatures remained above 25 degrees year-round with no change in sight. It was hot and when I say hot I mean nuclear hot (excuse the exaggeration).

If you still don't get how hot it is where I come from let me break it down for you. In my house we had a big pavement leading up to the gate. It was installed there for cars. When someone blew their horn one of us had to go open the gate for them. You didn't dare go to the gate barefoot because it was so hot the ground would literally burn your feet. It felt like walking on hot coals! Heat waves in Africa are horrible. The heat would drive everyone mad and as one would expect, tempers would often flare. It was during those times that the electric bill would experience a meteoric rise because we kept on using a combination of fans and air conditioners to keep us cool. The conversation people would keep on having would involve how hot it was and how difficult to comprehend the fact that the sun and hell are much hotter than this is. In fact, when I was first informed I would be moving here the first thing I got excited about was how lucky I would be to experience the legendary winter that we Africans (except sometimes in the far South and North I think) only see on TV. I can't remember the exact number of Christmas movies I rented during that period. I wanted to know more about this curious substance called snow.

I came here in the fall. I remember it was raining that day and it was quite cool. This was quite disappointing because it had always been my desire to experience cold temperatures since I had never previously felt cold except when I had a fever (chills). The next day was pretty satisfying though. Battling jet lag, I woke up to find that it was quite sunny. Disappointed, I went out to see how hot it was. I received the biggest shock of my life there and then. It was freezing! I rushed back in yelping in pain licking my wounds (expressions for the win!). My mother asked me what had happened and I asked how it could be cold when the sun was shining. She simply chuckled and said I had no idea what I was in for.

Winter followed fall and I remember quite early in December it began to snow. The sheer excitement I experienced when I first saw the snow through my window was so astronomical that I really don't think I will be able to reproduce such a feeling ever again. In a shirt and shorts I rushed outside to touch the snow and again yelped in pain upon feeling the freezing temperature and touching the white powder. It was there that I first learned that it is probably a good idea to dress warmly before going outside (High five for naivety!).

I love the seasons here. I love how the leaves change color in the fall. I love the beautiful effect snow has. I love the cool, wet weather of spring. I love watching everything grow during that time. The hot weather of summer brings back so many good (and bad) memories. Monotony, when it comes to the weather is never good in my opinion. I wish there were seasons in Africa too. They really have no idea what they're missing. Except those who've been outside Africa. :)

I advise those of you who choose to comment to use a brighter color such as this one. Just so that comments can be seen properly. Thanks!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!