VOICE

  

It is widely spoken.

We have the voice 

A voice to command,

A voice to create,

A voice to give hope.

But the rumours

Don't seem to be true.

Powerless and voiceless we are.

Our voice is caged up 

Caged up by customs and beliefs.

To say anything we dare,

We fear to be seen as weak.

So we choose to suffer silently,

Masking our faces with happiness,

Acting as if we are fine.

The truth is:

We don't have the voice.

Here it is —

A silent voice

You choose to ignore.

The story of the oppressed,

You decide not to listen.

If I speak my miseries,

My mental scars and tears,

Will you hold my hand?

Will you help me face my fears?

I suffer from schizophrenia.

Every day, voices play hide-and-seek in my mind.

Voices of addictions visit me at midnight

And snatch my only tranquil,

Leaving my mind in a trench.

Smile on face, voices in my head 

When will my soul be free?

I'm silent...

Yet I wish you did hear my voice.

BY Wenkosi The Poet and Rodrick Kamen JNR