When I

When I

When I think about life and the way life is
I just smile
I smile not because I’m happy or
I’m at the best of my moods
I smile because it’s the right thing to do

When I
When I think about life
The way life is
The way it was
The way life is to be and
The way life should be
I just smile

When I,
I think about the way life is
Sitting on top of my inability to shift
Unable to sift
Between good and bad
I just smile
Not because I’m happy or
I’m at the best of my moods
But because it’s the right thing to do

When I think about life
The way it was
Bruised in my past
I just smile and grab my tools
To write
I write about the tear that escaped from my eyes
As I tried holding them back
They just came flooding
When I think about life
The way it was
I, I just
I just smile

When I think about life and
The way life is to be
I see my brother in his coffin’
I watch him go down
As they lower him with the lowering device
And I think that is the best
Seeing him going to rest
I just smile
Not because I’m happy or
I’m at the best of my moods
But it’s the right thing to do

So when you think about life
The way life should be
What do you think of?
Think?
Well, my aunts don’t think no more
They know not which day it is
Ambition! What’s that?
When I think about the way life should
I hear my aunt calling me by name
I watch her as she comes back from work
But life has tormented her so much
That she barely thinks about her kids
So when you think about life,
What do you think about?

By: Gcobisa Mshiywa