An Alien to Existence

Zanele hasn't slept

Zanele hasn’t slept.

She can’t think.

Her brain

is half chewed toast

spit out

with no butter.

Block

has consumed her,

jarred her ability

to create life.

She’s 16 today.

Where was childhood?

She searched for him

in her writing

the way she forged father's approval in her nightmares.

And like childhood

and father,

the more time slips away,

the deeper her abyss

yearns.

And somehow she's managed to miss the point.