The words trembled as he read
Fearful of his gaze
And moment he lowers
His finger to guide him
They know he is ruthless
That many of them won’t survive the edit
That the word next to them or themselves could be next
He has wiped out thousands of them already
Whole paragraphs at a time
Phrases that were born together
Have died together,
Consigned to oblivion
Never to be writ again
Those who make it are grateful
And do the work of the departed
As well as their own
Such is the price of immortality
Published by
Troydon
Troydon Wainwright is a philosopher and Reiki Master based in Cape Town. Born with mild cerebral palsy and dyslexia, Toydon learnt to write as a way to overcome the barriers his dyslexia placed in front of him. “I wrote my way out of dyslexia,” said Troydon, “or at least to the point where reading and writing aren’t a problem anymore.”
During the day he works as an educational facilitator (someone who helps special needs students cope academically and become more independent). At night he dedicates his time to writing. He has won a Nova award for his short story, The Sangoma’s Storm, and been a feature poet at the Off the Wall poetry readings in Cape Town and at Cape Town Central Library. Three of his poems were also included in the anthology Africa’s Best New Poets. He has also been published in the South African Literary journal, New Contrast. One of his Facebook posts, in which he took a stand against racism, has gone viral (http://www.troydonwainwright.com/when-love-went-viral/).
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