Garth Rakumakoe

Self-estranged Commoners

In his rear-view mirror

he sees a stranger

on common land

The drenched figure he passed

with outstretched hand

He could\'ve sworn he looked familiar

in his helpless demeanor

but names do not matter anymore

much less origins much less creed

 

Doubt is the only certainty

and mistrust the new law,

whispers indifference

as showers fall pots and pans

and the shorter he becomes

the stranger he seems

as the distance spans

 

He could be a killer or hijacker

says the wipers and windshield

over the low radio chatter

to the peeking side mirror

back over the growing distance

into the gaping detachment

like the stranger\'s disappearance

separating man from himself

 

Trust is a cursed well

whence the dead last drank

and just as they once were brothers

so strangers they become

and live each other by

It\'s a new day on common land

It\'s a new world