Voices From The Ghetto: On Bended Knees (Part 1)


The following is the first in a series of poems from “Voices From The Ghetto”, published by author Gaiven Clairmont and serialised in Wired868: 

Photo: Voices From The Ghetto.
Photo: Voices From The Ghetto.

She dusts off her pillow

Before setting it adjacent to her bed

She kneels solemnly


As she acknowledges her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

She begins

 

She asks for forgiveness for her family of two

And she prays for her other brothers and sisters

And her mother

But now she’s silent

 

She doesn’t know how to approach the Lord in prayer

Her son

Her one and only

Has caused her to be in perpetual grief

She grieves because his life has become a stereotype

For his fellow teenagers from the impoverished apartment buildings

 

His actions have rendered him a statistic

As people class him in the class for the worst

He’ll still be her son

Her only child

She cries as well because she thinks it’s her fault

She thinks she cursed his life

And condemned him to his fate

 

If she could only have been more circumspect

In her actions and remain steadfast in her studies

She could’ve given him a better outlook on life

She could’ve given him a life

For what he’s doing is not life

 

How do you live?

When your life revolves around taking the life of a fellow man?

And why

For inexcusable excuses co-mingled with emotions

Which triggers semi-automatics and pistols?

How does a mother plead her case for her son?

When his life is immersed in sin

Sin for which he will never repent for

 

Her life has been hell

So she decided a long time to do all she could to make it to heaven

But lately she has been thinking who will accompany her there

Who will she share this life with?

No husband

For she realised that the men in her life lacked responsibility

Will her parents who’ve long cast her away from both physical and virtual memory

Share the walks along the white gold streets

No they wouldn’t even walk with her to the hospital

To bring her bundle of joy into the world

 

It’s so sad that a child is so abandoned

That he’s resorted to abandoning his ideals, morals

For the mortal riches and earthly prosperities

That will do nothing to prepare him for the life beyond this one

 

She has very few options left

One is to be an exemplar for her young prince

Work, write, act, and sing her way out of the ghetto streets

Where the street lights do nothing

To enlighten the minds of the youth to aspire to great things

She’ll show by her life that there is another way

And she can only hope he would then follow in her stead

Because if not

Her eternal soul will eternally go through eternity

Without any peace or serenity.

 

Editor’s Note: Wired868 has been authorised to publish poems from Voices from the Ghetto for readers. We urge you to purchase an online version of the book  from Amazon by clicking HERE.  

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About Gaiven Clairmont

Gaiven Clairmont is an author who has published books of poetry, light short stories and a suspense novel. His last poetic, Voices From The Ghetto, was written in 2014 on the treatment of young black males in society and the people who live in impoverished urban communities.

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One comment

  1. Wow….. The pain, the reality, the hopelessness, the trivialization of life, the vicious cycle all expressed eloquently but doesn’t attempt to hide the sadness of life for many in the Ghetto.

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