An Ode to Social Work

by Shehani Perera

Perhaps, some of us wish to live lives detached from the natural cynicism incited by dwelling in a society such as ours.

Perhaps, this is our way of bringing hope and courage to those most entangled in its barbed wire.

We live and work in the shadows of human misery, and yet,

feel compelled,

through this distancing, to give light to those who were meant to be born to light,

who,

until now, were made to forget,

that they are light.

Forgive us the small pleasures of sinking our feet in the grass, skin basking in the setting sun with tea.

For tomorrow, we will wake in the dark hours of the morning and travel into the darkest corners of human minds to unearth sunken hearts.

Forgive us the merry voices we sing with in the dull corridors of hospitals and empty playgrounds.

For yesterday, we saw bruised children and wounded men.

Forgive us the poems we write with love and care, the words streaming off our tongues like cool water, running.

For today, we speak, to heal.

Our detachedness is our solace.

Like the scorching heat of the sun, the misery of the human condition can be too blinding, burning.

Our distance is the shade.

Let us rest, for always, we will return for more.

Shehani Perera is a third-year Bachelor of Social Work student at the University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.