The streets are mute
And the downtrodden are cold
And the girl pretends she
Has many suitors
The handkerchief in my hands
Is nothing much more
Than a rag now
And the night only has one moon
And the fountains have
Ten thousand pennies
I carry the “No” that you gave me
Buried somewhere, as if
It was a part of me now
My love is spinning
The murmur of the masses
Grows loud and I tremble
At the greed of this society
That takes more than it gives
Until giving means giving
To those who would profit from you
The afternoon was something else
Sunlight had been forgotten
If I die like this, from regret
Leave the balcony open
The reaper will harvest
The soul of my art
In my study
Beneath my dirty sheets
From my balcony I can see him
He finds the weight of the snow
Annoying like a transparent shadow
The streets will still be mute
And the downtrodden will
Still beg at the metro of the church
And when I am gone
I will feel myself both like
The balcony, and the tower, and the skies
Moving up, in a stream of shadow-light
And there, I will
Pretend that God loved me.
Wuji Seshat 