I’ve been swift and demanding
Asking you to
love your neighbours through
fences
save and ration — stop assuming
make things usually made for you
do things usually done for you
sprout time rather than
devouring it
reach for those on the other side of
your screen
imbibe art of the world now opening
to the world
reimagine all that you have
in face of all who don’t
amplify the shapes merging in the shadows
unite in ways
little tried.
SALIMAH VALIANI is a poet, researcher and activist. She has published four collections of poetry. Her latest book is Dear South Africa, a poem-story published in the Praxis Magazine Online 2019-2020 Poetry Chapbook Series.