Love & trust don't need scaffolding they can exist in a vacuum, in emptiness. The greatest test of love or trust is when the scaffolding of life come apart or come apart, leaving us exposed battered buffeted disoriented. In this moment of crisis people reveal themselves, how they know you, how words & actions are aligned. If you are loved trusted a movement to understand begins not for the moment but the full picture the context how it failed & you are seen through a lens of love & trust Alternatively the moment is seen in isolation a judgement sought guilt or not a demand for explanation a tribunal, a representative evidence gathered narrowly. That please explain moment it tells you everything. Explanations & apologies are redundant performative. Recalibrate. Explanations become proof, apologies hollow. Acknowledge the charges & move on however painful that may be. Gather evidence as best you can know the narrative move on with your life. ... Poem: how do I know you? the tribunal sits and trust has lost its scaffolding truth is not a witness if judgement is constructed don't apologize, don't explain paired with a portion of an artwork by Banele Khoza titled This is it (2017) @Zeitz MOCAA Permanent Collection. Artwork for contemplation only; a low-res copy of the original, unsuitable for commercial use, ©owner Words & image ©ilinkcs (2026/03) Banele Khoza uses thin, fluid paint to make abstracted portraits of which are half-formed and uncanny. His work explores ambiguity of gender, but this ambiguity works well in the theme of the tanka which is the moment at which a person recognizes the nature of their relationship or community ~ included or excluded The blending and bleeding of one pigment into the next suggests an identity in flux. His paintings were first shown in a 2017 solo exhibition as part of a year-long curatorial focus on LGBTQI+ artists at Zeitz MOCAA. Zeitz MOCAA Permanent Collection
How do I know you?
an unanswered question hovering,
waiting on scrutiny or stress
"That's not how I know you"
pulls you in closer
"Always knew you were like that"
pushes away
When the scaffolding collapses
the question is answered
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#poetry #poem #tanka
#Zeitz #banelekhoza
