What is the price please, sir?
Of glitter
Of gold
Of the dollars and the rubles
That tag the bowels of the earth
What do search for, sir?
When you mine
When you maime
When you spit
When you punch
Will you find it, sir?
Deep within
Crimson and pulsatile
Turning pungent and hostile
Blood for nuggets
Will it hurt, sir?
When you bury love
Burn laughter
Singe hope
With a metallic smirk the size of a missile
Was it worth it, sir?
When the allure of power
Met the seduction of hunger
When you sold the souls
For the value of dirt
Aaishah Mayet hails from the City of Gold, Johannesburg, South Africa. She works in the Healthcare sector which, for her, has bridged the frontiers of our shared human experience. As a self-confessed bibliophile of many years, literature remains her teacher and her sanctuary. Her works include Haiku published in the Lotosblute, as well as works published by Agbowo, Praxis, Poetry Potion, Active Muse, the Brittle Paper, The Lote Tree Press, the International Human Rights Arts Festival and Amaliah.