Secrets Are Alive Poem by Niki Nicholas Nkuna

The innocuous ones and the poisonous ones,
Loud ones and the totally silent ones,
They've two unrecognisable colours,
Forever in the toil, working all the time,
The owners know them, that they exist,
Understand them, and feel them,
Secrets are alive,

Where I go, they are in tow,
When I interact with colleagues, friends, family members and relatives,
They lie low, should they show themselves up I will be very much embarrassed,
Toilet activities, align very well with active secrets,
Active secrets don't whisper but act loudly in solitary confinement,
And those that are meek, usually act erratically,
They like slipping conveyor belts,
So that they can slide out onto other conveyor belts,
Usually from wonderland to wonderland,
Secrets are alive,

The silent secrets are promiscuous,
Are constantly on the move,
Marry most of the time,
And bear children wherever they go,
Almost all their children are illegitimate,
In some marriages they bore many children before they move on,
At other households, they are tied down by their husbands,
But they never give up; they always won in disentangling themselves,
Loosen the tight screws and let the oil spill all over the place,
So they slide unstoppably,
Secrets are alive,

Action secret stay with the exhibitor,
Have a penchant for tranquil environment,
And dance like a timid adolescent girl, reclusively,
The danger of losing friends and family members is near and far,
Action secret should push gently out of the door
And against the dresses and trousers,
Even conceal the bad odour which sometimes defines them,
If only the dresses and trousers can talk,
Many a people would fall from the high tower of respectability,
Friends will run away, the exhibitor will be the centre of mockery,
Luckily they are sown to secrecy,
They act silently, sometimes a bit louder in secret places,
Reclusively away from public hearing,
Secrets are alive,

They are not allowed to complain or remonstrate,
Although at times, are able to act in disobedience of the owner,
They disgust the people nearby at the detriment of the owner's reputation,
They can disperse a meeting,
Can make the driver open a window?
Can make the owner a laughing stock,
Secrets are alive,

Lovers have a stage of tolerance and intolerant for silent and action secrets,
Some people have lost their partners by letting the embarrassing action secrets dance in public,
Some have maintained the relationship by letting the action secret dance in solitary confinement,
Secrets are alive,

Silent secrets come with huge responsibility,
The owner or surrogate parents have to keep on applying the brakes,
As if they are running on a steep slope
A contract is signed when a new owner takes over,
Once the screws are let loose, the chain breaks,
The trees, the walls, and clothes, hear all the noise made by the action secrets,
If only they can talk they could tell the most hilarious of tales,
Secrets are alive,

Action secrets have a proclivity to gain the owner's respect they do not deserve,
They may be let to dance in public, the imposing owner striking fright into people who find the gyrating laughable,
Or people may be silenced by the accompanying disgust and shock,
Sometimes the owner may despise all and let it loose on the dance floor,
Perhaps due to jealousy and spitefulness,
Secrets are alive!

Niki Nkuna Jan 2012