MONCIANA EDMONDSON (Jamaica, West Indies)

Is it the light in my eyes?
Or the breadth of my thighs
Maybe the curve of my hips
And the smile on my lips?
There is Just me, no we
Each blessed individually
With the freedom to be.
I will dwell happily
In my own special reality

The wolf in disguise
I have learnt to be wise
You will not be my demise
I see through your lies.
I see the devil in your eyes
I will not compromise
With the enemy I will not fraternize
Deaf to the soft yearning beneath your smiles

I hear your retort
But this is not a sport
Life is too short
Please understand my need to abort,
This, our brief acquaintance.
Despite your resistance
I require your acceptance
And your immediate assistance.

You comprehend my reluctance
To allow your substance
To contaminate my existence
So despite your insistence
I will quarantine this lust
Allowing it to spontaneously combust
I will put this to death
Watching as this lust takes its last breath

I have no stuttering speech
No contract for you to breach
No screeeech of tires
As I speedily retreat.
There is no reverse on life's busy street,
This is not conceit.
Just don't want to get burned,
Time wasted can never be returned