Anna Marie Kinkead loves all that is vibrant, authentic and that speaks to the reality of lived human experience. She has written for the Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health and is currently exploring the way poetry distills what is raw and real. Her creative pieces have appeared in Down in the Dirt, Wildfire Words, The Good Within the Khaos, Quillkeepers Press and Spillwords.

Anna Kinkead

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Dissonance vs Grace

Vibrant silks sway alongside a stall selling human teeth
A call to prayer sails above the cacophony of scooters.
Orange blossom clashes with a sharp tang of cat piss.
Senses blessed, then assaulted.
Mint tea meets monkey stench in a one-two jab:
Caress-slap! Kiss-punch!
Wonder commodifies culture as vendors pimp out their city.

Tourists smile at a hungry child, assuaging the guilt of their privilege,
jewellery glinting obscenely.
Rude scofflaws exposing their flesh as they profess
to respect.
Conversation rapists who ask without caring,
while wearing the smug mask of "civilization."
Respectfully, go home now.