A Place In Infinity Poem by Margaret Alice Second

A king's ransom for a new swimsuit, layers of black
folds to disguise I am growing old - but paying a few
thousand rand when other people go hungry, jobless
and homeless; how justify wanton expenditure while
others have nothing to do, nowhere to go, nothing to
live for? I have so much, yet it feels as if the plight of

The suffering masses is pulling me down - though no
amount of suffering and deprivation on my part could
give anything to them - I must give them my time and
love - not cold cash that feeds a few for a day - I must
teach them to fish - instead of giving them fishes until
I'm bankrupt myself - I must invest in them as people

Not as strangers I fear to meet - yet whenever my
parents helped the homeless or lost little people on
the street, these people turned out to be parasites
who made bad use of the help they received; I'm so
confused - how can I help in a loving way - when it's
so dangerous to allow strangers into one's world

My duchess is working with the underprivileged, she's
a qualified social worker who knows how to protect her-
self and her loved ones from clients' dire straits, even
condescendingly asking me why a stick with a Phoenix
who does not understand nor support my emotional life,
I replied that he loves our kids enough to give his life

For them - and what would I gain if he were as fizzling
and dreaming and otherworldly as I am: our kids would
have been lost and alone - my Phoenix provides the
knotted tree trunk and roots that bind us to safety and
having enough; he's perfect for me as his long silences
force me to write - to escape overpowering emotions

And so I leave my legacy: whether others find it, whether
It'll just be lost - doesn't matter, only the small opening in
the moment is enough to capture a place in infinity, only
the feelings of delight or sadness suffice to show these
feelings to posterity - my name isn't important - only my
dreams and visions merit future acknowledgement…