I Curse You
I didn't crack in Iraq.
I didn't break when life tried to bury me.
I didn't shatter when you destroyed parts of me that could never truly heal.
I carried wounds that will stay with me forever, yet I kept walking.
I'm already ill, and not once did you stop to ask if I was okay. Not once did you tell my children, "Go and check on your dad."
You all said you'd be there if I ever ended up in prison, but where are you now? I'm not locked behind bars—I'm out here fighting battles every single day, and somehow that's where I've been left to struggle alone.
Any day could be my last, yet silence has been louder than any words you could have spoken.
I hope one day you understand that strength isn't the absence of pain. It's surviving despite it.
By the power of broken promises and unpaid debts, I place upon you the Curse of the Empty Wallet.
May every forgotten expense find you.
May every loose coin roll just beyond your reach.
May every bargain vanish moments before you arrive.
May your pockets remain strangely light until every debt is made right.
Ayo na vora, malembe kai.
Sendo ra noka, tendo rai.
Coins take flight, purses sigh,
Debts remembered, reasons why.
Ayo na vora, malembe kai.
Let no borrowed promise hide.
Until the balance has been paid,
The Empty Wallet shall abide.
No harm to your health.
No danger to your life.
Only the endless irritation of feeling broke and remembering what you owe.
The curse shall end the moment every debt is settled.
So written.
So witnessed.
So done.
