Arun Jeetoo is a wanderer and possesses the gift of compassion. A poet, short story writer and educator, Arun’s work appears in places such as The London Reader, Fincham Press and Selcouth Station anthologies amongst others. His visual poetry appears in a gallery in Cardiff with Lumin Journal. Known for his dirty realism style of work, provocative and raw imagery and dark humour, Arun wants his readers to reflect on what it means to be human in the 21st century.

ORANGE JUICE

Driving down never-ending roads
with people I don’t know. All we have
in common is that we wanna quit being
adults
because running away is better
than facing the darkness behind me.

My parents didn’t teach me resilience
it’s not their fault
it was in the air.
Maybe I should go back and finish my
degree, but I can’t bring myself back to
who I used to be?

I buried him in the murky sands on
Brighton Beach
locked away in a treasure chest,
and my soul is the key.

I had to leave my memories at the door,
to survive on the road, you need a clear head.
I stuck some plasters over my tattoo of you
we were supposed to be ‘endgame’ –
but I have to find the answer in something or someone.

And if you still love me
after I did so much hurt and wrong,
I’m feeling sorry for you for holding on.
When we stop to fill the car up with gas
I ask myself, what is the root cause of my pain to
hurt people this way?
And I just reply with an objective fact of reality:
that this is all that there is.

I don’t do apologies
because I hate to admit that I am wrong.
Just know that if I don’t see you again
I won the war but, there was no celebration
what’s been lost is gone.

Soon we’ll run out of money,
two of us have maxed out on our cards.

The day will come when the car will break down,
so I’ll find a city close by
because everyone needs a scrubber somewhere.

My toothbrush tastes like Jack
and my armpits have brown circles around them
I get tired of waiting on me and
I can’t recognise myself in pavement puddles,
but that’s what I want.

During times like these I get drunk and pray to God.
It won’t be long until I feel like a someone
should I leave tonight?
I get tired of letting people down
so I’ll live and die this way.