Resident Artist 3: No. 5 — Perro Negro

I was scared

The cars snarled

The rain lashed

And the wind howled

The bus station wallowed in its filth

I scowled with my coat collar up

And my hands deep in my pockets

But they saw through me

The scum and the sick

The tattooed and toothless

They cackled

And the bus roared

I scrambled on and huddled

And hid

And the world was black

Then the sun smiled on me

Bright and warm

New

I breathed in the light

And my myriad illnesses retreated

My heart beat strongly

My cancers never were

I was hungry again

And taller

I strode through the bus station

My coat trailed behind me

The lepers quailed at my passing

And hid their sinful souls

My eyes cleared the way ahead

And the world was gold

Resident Artist 3: Dion Loubser No. 5