I will not fold up my light for you

I will not fold up my light for you

I will not fit myself into a neatly covered package
which you can parade as if some way to say:
"Hey look- I made it!"
Trophy wife, trophy life
Trophy woman, trophy girl
Trophy shiny
Trophy world

I will not light your lamp 
Just so that you can find your way 
to that place
where you are king
and then

Douse my light once you get there,
Having no further use for it.

No, son
No, father
No, brother
No, uncle
No, lover

You will not take my light away.

" This little light of mine- I'm gonna let it shine"
" This little light of mine- I'm gonna let it shine"
" This little light of mine- I'm gonna let it shine"
" Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine."

I will not be a man's light if it means I remain in darkness.

If the rays of truth are kept from me
and the dawn of my being
left unilluminated
by the breath of your convenience.

For, I have stumbled too long in the silence of your shadows
And I have eaten my last meal in the darkness
In the absence of your heart, your love
So, if this is load-shedding,
Then I am shedding my soul of this load


See, I am not afraid of my own darkness. For I know it.
Nor am I  afraid to light up the whole world. It is waiting...

But,
I will not unfurl to light the wick.
Knowing that you will be quick to
Douse the flames
Once you have reached your destination.

You will not steal my light.

I will not fold up my light for you
I will not fit myself into a neatly covered package
which you can parade as if some way to say:
"Hey look- I made it!"

No, you will not take my light away.

" This little light of mine- I'm gonna let it shine"
" This little light of mine- I'm gonna let it shine"
" This little light of mine- I'm gonna let it shine"

" Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine."


©2013 Allison Marche' Pillay

 20 October 2013