here
but not quite of here;

in it
but not in, or of, it;

embedded, yes

looking on the inside
through the proverbial glass ceiling
yet always feeling marginal
and left out
only managing
as it is

like the scruffy and lonesome ostrich
a permanent feature
on the handsomely-manicured grounds of the hotel
outside
torn away from both kith and kin
in the wild
and now absorbed in picking up tiny pebbles

as they fall off the high table
where affluent guests
and tourists alike
it and dine
and talk
coming in, and going out
in their luxury wagons and jeeps

limousine
which purr in, and purr out
of the hotel lobby
their green house emissions

almost asphyxiating the entire atmosphere
and him
the other – in this equation
leaving him almost half-dazed
gasping
rasping
for  want of air
and space
and that little more of the human dignity
he craves

© by kagiso dubla senthufhe