Tuesday, December 9, 2025

The Castaways by Devi Nina Bingham

I came to live upon this coastland

Where crusty crabs and divorcees live

Where waves lap upon the sand

Where drug lords will give you the shiv.


Gentle sunrise from the violent night

Like a child born from unspeakable pain

So the castaways have lost the fight

With a society gone insane.


And found my paradise poor and chaste

A Latin welcome discovered

Where close-toed shoes are out of place

And friends turn into lovers.


Who I was I can't remember

I left me behind to find my peace

And now it is but a glowing ember

Which some fine day will find release.


The castaways all came to find

What they could not get at home

A simpler way, a gentler grind

And a beach on which to roam.


So when you see a castaway

Pass by with just a knowing nod

For the tourist who has gone astray

And the tropical escape they trod.


Do not bother them, let them go

In silence and in sorrow

For what they loved long ago

Was sunk like pirate's cargo. 







Curse of the Patriarchy by Devi Nina Bingham

You were born the top of the heap

You were raised in society's favor

The patriarchy is ruthless and deep.


A woman's place is to serve and to weep

Black skin bows to the white enslaver

To the children's beds the fathers do creep.


In money and power you swim, neck-deep

Beholding to men whose cruelty you savor

Your allegiance is purchased dirt cheap.


Throw your regrets in a silent heap

Swallow the communion wafer

Monsters will visit you as you sleep.


Oh, the company you keep

Sent to the torture chamber

You became the sheep.


Yes, you became the sheep

When you sold out your neighbor

The price you payed was steep.


O Father, death will be your savior. 





Messy Hair by Devi Nina Bingham

Perfection we were never

Asymmetrical and extraterrestrial

Yet, needing each other as ever

A passion more exotic than perennial.


You are so stupefying

Bewildering and perplexing

Your decisions leave me sighing

Your need for amusement is vexing. 


Couldn't be more different

For I don't find people charming

To you they are stimulating

To me they are alarming.


We are like messy hair

With an unstable head we must share. 



The Promised Land by Devi Nina Bingham

Empty fairytales draw me in

How I want them to be true

Weave a tale that makes me grin

Wonder if you always knew


Ideals of happily ever-afters

Easy answers for tangled troubles

For all your promises, there's little laughter

When we should be bathing in passion's bubble.


A delicate butterfly sought after

A lullaby of love hidden 'neath the rubble

A sunset without the kiss of a rose

The puppet master is obscured by the rafters

Aged, we turn to one another

The promised land hides in the shadows.