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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Enmity by Chandu Singathi

Enmity (poem about A Separate Peace by John Knowles)

He didn’t know yet that he was unique
too unusual for rivalry
brought back to life by the touch of God
like every other thought and belief of his: it should have been true
I was not of the same quality as he
he wasn’t going to get away with it
we’re all enemies, we can and will turn on each other all the time
But I always jumped
it was all cold trickery
it was all calculated
it was all enmity
In some way he needed me
You’re going to be the big star now
It’s going to be all A’s for you
It was a crazy idea, I must have been delirious
his balance gone, tumbled sideways
You want to break something else in me
You always were a savage underneath
I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral
I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there

By Chandu Singathi

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