Love Poem: Strayed Arrow
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Written by: Wiseton Prins

Strayed Arrow

There’s a Swahili adage that goes
‘Mshale ulioingia msituni haujapotea’
An arrow that has been cast (shot/strayed) into the forest is not lost
I guess this is one of those arrows
~~~   	~~~   	~~~
As usual, it’s yet another crow of the neighbour’s cock
Gotta wake up, the dawn will soon be gone... and another day too will be gone 
But today, I really don’t feel up to it all
And to pretend that I do will be a pointless struggle
The same thing every day
All day long
Today I think from this routine I should fall
Perhaps I may pay a visit to my friendly monkeys down in the valley
Perhaps I’ll go to that spot by the river
And watch the crocodiles basking in the sun
Or I could go further up and say hi to the hippos and crown birds
Or I should just go to the forest
I might say hi to a gazelle, a giraffe or a zebra
I’m sure I’ll be inspired to strum a beautiful piece on my guitar
Even the trees need to hear my music
Or I could go and climb that hill over there
It’ll give me a chance to refresh my mind
Also seeing my territory down below might remind me why I’m Wiseton Prins
When my thoughts have been distilled 
I might go take a swim down in the lake
And on my favourite stone I’ll sit in the sun to dry
All the while hoping my favourite mermaid would dare light of day
And come up to say hi
It’s been quite a while since she and I conversed
And to think I dreamt of her the night before last
Sometimes I wish she could really come to life
Then she’d be perfect to be my wife
Oh, this mortal love has a tendency to scratch deep in my heart
Makes me bleed most of the time
Nowadays I’m suspicious of every sugar laced smile cast my way by a beautiful girl
For if I say yes to her delight
Today in my life she’ll be the sun, moon and the star
Tomorrow she’d be the vampire who defies the dark
Sucking all happiness out of my life, turning the peaceful movie of my life into horror
Why can’t I ever find true love that lasts through time
I’m tired of all these sugar-coated love with nothing but hot pepper inside
Good thing is, today I’m gonna take a pause
Break away from the flow
Good thing is my arrows have been shot into the jungle of dreams
And a good hunter or gather is bound to find its kill or its keep 
And the finesse of its make is bound in some degree to impress

Damn, what the heck have I been talking about
Uh, I’ll go over it tomorrow
Where’s my guitar... don’t forget the pad and pen