How Could I And Why? Poem by nobomi tshongweni

</>how could I sit here and listen to you, talk about how you hate delinquency
and the fluency of the language spoken by criminals
agree to disagree to being a criminal myself
I nodd my haed in agreement with the despair in heart of ever changing my ways
i am pierced by your kind and gracious words for they do not apply to me
i guess it is time to let you know,
let you know who you have been calling your son
sooner or later they will come,
they will come knock hardly on that door, the very same door in which you brought me through as a young chap
the very door that is a link between that fast paced life and us

how could i?
how could i drag your status-filled name on the debris beneath my sole?
how could i pretend for so long
i am now a dozen tripled then halved years old
i have matured in this home for thou many years

how could i and why
simple answer: i will forever plead and say forgive me
for i have not had that father to teach me right