6/24/07

FESTIVAL

THE ONLINE POETRY READING
This week, as promised to you last week, we are bringing all the poets who have graced the sidebar in the past few months for a reading. We realised that some of them you loved so much that our decision to quickly remove them was robbing you of your favourite lyrics. And now, we give them to you, to remain indelible in IN THIS ISSUE.
A prayer’s prayer
My victim who art in my lust/
Hallowed be thy curves/
Thy day shall come and thy will/
Be done in bed as ye could in the bath/
Give me your legs today/
to tear apart/
And forgive my being so good/
in bed as ye would train to be as good/
Lead me not into relationship/
but deliver me from disease/
For yours is the bedroom,/
the garage and the bathroom /
For a night stand or two/
That’s it!!/
Soul seductress

Put your hand under the skirt of my soul/
And arouse my spirituality/
Gently caress the pubis of my soul guitar/
To produce a best-selling duet/
Seduce me with your body temperature/
And send shivers up my spine/
Touch me there, leave me defenceless/
You paint abstract art/
On the base of my pelvis/
Not for an exhibition but for your own pleasure/
Your hand on my privates perfectly fits:/
The groin of my soul is a glove for you hand/
Slow, simultaneous movements/
Shoots my soul to climax/
You put the soul of my womanhood/
At a hormonal frenzy/
It is not the tears of my soul/
But the juices of my pleasured bosoms/
You got me singing pink blues/
Got my boat canoeing/
Don’t even think of removing your hand/
Coz you got me backstroking/
In the ocean of your intense presence/
I hereby give you permission/
To perve on my soul/

When pencils bleed!

First day of breath first day of deception first day of life/
First day of consciousness wondered why the devil has the eyes of an angel/
The pyramids have dissolved into the hearts of a clan/
They have killed Biko but couldn't assasinate the pen/
Picture a preacher's rage when time finally reveals that religion is missing a page/
A saint's semen floats at the dead sea/
He musterbated on water hoping it gives birth to a holy seed/
We've built only for them to destroy/
They gave us a lantern that leads to eternal darkness/
Tomorrow is a long time for a dying man's ambitions/
I prefer to lounge in my skull eyes closed so I can read my mind/
Caught up within the rapid movement of time/
trying to bridge a gap between their history and our future/
I don't give a fuck/
I'll rather slash my wrists than blow a kiss to a natural end/
Life is waste of time if time is not giving you life/
In my last prayer I whispered a request for a daughter and a true wife/
Instead I receive death threats from cowards who twist faces yet scared of their own shadows/
This is a story of my existance/
I lay my thoughts bare for hypocrites to judge my character/
Jealousy digs an early grave for the bearer/
I got love for my true friends for they see the world more clearer/
Respect he who's known to build castles in the sky/
For only he'll have a home when he dies/
There's no heaven in the clouds or above/
While you close your eyes praying for peace your enemies are raping the dove.


Talks with the sun

They are holding talks/
with the setting sun,/
wishing for a reluctant sunset./
Their prayer/
calls for a decade of sunlight,/
what an impossible wish!/
Ba tla le bontšhang/
swiswi la bošhego/
tšhidi ya bosenyi,/
survival of the fittest./
Oh dear heavens!/
Command hope,/
shine some light,/
show them that/
O Modimo wa lerato/
moukamela ditšhaba./
I have seen them/
Drifting barefeet in the cold,/
dimpa di tletše moya,/
ke bo "excuse me baas/
can I push your trolley?"/
they don’t look to have had dreams before,/
they have grown bigger hearts,/
they forgot how to cry,/
but make another a man cry./
Children of the streets,/
they are holding talks/
with the setting sun/
the sun that never listens./


Red Wine Resistance


That dark look/
of displeasure –moody,/
morose, thoroughly judgmental –/
crosses your face, unbidden,/
as I pour another/
glass of red wine/
Makes me want to/
finish the bottle,/
drink it dry, savour/
last saporific/
heart-warming droplets./
Ruby opiate,/
glass by tempting glass,/
offers temporary refuge,/
a precious poison./
I shall pour it faster,/
relish rubescent roughness/
of fermented grapes/
once fat, burgeoning/
purple-back, ministered/
tenderly by sun seeds,/
Against my palate – now/
so dry – it might/
bring tears to/
uninformed taste buds./
Older than you, I am,/
widely read & travelled,/
admittedly inclined to/
irresponsibility in spontaneity,/
it’s the intoxication/
I like, invincibility inducing,/
of prison walls/
broken though to/
unconstrained selfness./
Ensanguined glitter, crimson-shot/
sparkle, rose-coloured jewel –/
all hedonistic charm – I escape/
your ill humour, foul black clouds/
that bellow and belch/
demanding/
attention and commiseration.

HIGH ENCOUNTER

I mated my lips, my lungs and mind with a pissed off, fucked up joint/
the spliff being so dumped, so rejected it almost blew my poetic brains out/
in between its meaness and anger i found myself overdazed/
wondering whether it is an O nor L that my name cormences with/
and where the hell is home?/

an hour after the hot orgasmic high/
i wonder if i shall ever quit/
if the natural high is this doped, dare i not touch babylon mind crippling spl---iiifs/



I Am Woman

Because you are man/
And desire the perfection/
Of the rise of my breasts/
Because you are man/
And are overwhelmed by my presence/
Consuming you in my sensuality/
I AM NOT WOMAN/

Because I am female/
And carry inside me/
The sanctuary of life/
Because I am female/
And hold between my thighs/
The most magnetic enigma of treasures known to man/
I AM NOT WOMAN/

Because I have lived/
For time enough to be graced/
With the gems of wisdom and pearl-colored hair/
Because I have lived for purpose served/
Of raising nation after nation/
And generation after generation/
I AM NOT WOMAN/

Because I have loved/
So hard and for so long/
My face bruised and sore/
Has come to look natural/
Because I have loved/
So blindly and faithfully/
You remain my prince/
Even in your fallen ways/
I AM NOT WOMAN/

Because I am proud/
And adorn myself/
With masks of artificial beauty/
Because I am proud/
And strut my stuff with sass/
I ass-accentuating apparel/
I AM NOT WOMAN/

Because I have intellect/
Raised in schools/
Of academic opulence/
Because I have intellect/
Raised in "consciousness",/
Sisterhood and self-affirmation/
I AM NOT WOMAN/

Because I am everything/
And epitomise each word/
I have spoken above/
Because I am everything/
I have ever been/
And seek God’s heart with all of mine/
I AM WOMAN IN THE MAKING
ETERNALLY.


Maria's Baggage

The young widow next door/
With a furrowed face/
Wears a black dress everyday/
Neighbours say she lynched her husband in bed/
They call her a bitchy witchy/
Mental case/
She wanders in the long winding road/
Heat throbs/
Feet blistered/
She runs across bridges & ridges/
She runs between ditchy shrubs & bushes/
Alone, waving at swinging grass & singing birds/
The wind howling like owls/
Onions & oil don't burn in her kitchen/
Electricity cut off/
Government delivery pace so slow/
Darkness falls upon her veiled face/
Cold water burns her bare back/
Roaches race through empty cupboards & shelves/
Neighbours eat sumptuous food/
Pounding good pap & vleis/
Gunning down pizza & pasta/
Washing down with whisky, rum & wine/
Finger-licking honey cake & ice-cream/
She downs cheap, bitter tablets/
She lives on prayer/
Amen/
Neighbours bask in the rising sun/
Dance to the full moon/
Exchange warm kisses & hugs/
Watch the glistening stars up in the sky/
Maria moans & groans day & night/
Dreams scissored to shreds/
No child/
Six years into unemployment/
Nothing glitters in her eyes/
Glee vanished in the dense forest of hope/
Day in, day out/
She spins in cycles/
Turmoil, like storm, brew & boil inside her mind/
A vicious battle rages/
Blue flames in the heart/
She drowns lower & lower/
This sum of excruciating pain & ridicule so unbearable/
She loved him -/
The man who broke her virginity/
She loved him -/
The wanted scum/
Now he's gone - the conman/
Now this deaddogthug dangles on her back/
A spook/
Maria looks through the window/
Caged in a matchbox apartment/
She longs to hang/
Swing down low from ninth floor/
Hubby jumped through the same window/
He crushed his skull into pieces/
Brain scattered on a concrete ground/
He feared deadlife behind bars/
He feared the sodomizing boys/
The media say he robbed the bank/
"STOP!/
Don't shoot him/
He didn't rob the bank."/
Maria stammers/
Teeth clatter/
She sees these men in balaclavas/
Banging the door/
Bang, bang, bang!/
She quivers/
She sees these gun-totting mafias/
These riffle-wielding scums/
Frogmarching her space/
Dum, dum, dum!/
She closes her eyes/
Vicious men bundle her down like an animal/
Pierce through her soft thighs/
She screams/
Manawee! Manawee!/
"YOUR HUSBAND OWES US ZUK"/
They yell/
& stuff her mouth with a cloth./
This heavily indebted young woman next door/
Can no longer bear this baggage/
She sinks lower & lower/
Into a swampy grave like a coffin/
Whoever ravaged her peace/
Whoever stole her freedom/
Please, please, please/
Bring it back NOW

U do not know how to love me, but you try
(Dedicated to Robin & mike tyson, Khutšo & me)

1. Beyond definition/
Lives your episodic love for me/
Beyond the malicious trial of re-definition/
Is your thallophytic love for a lonely rebel/
2. In an intense reality/
A laser-wired castle haunted by romantic demons/
A child of your mind’s muscle,/
A cherubic cocoon,/
We reside, I king, U queen/
A pair from destiny’s womb/
3. … this is love/
That’s how U define our preposterous desire to win/
To conquer tha other human/
And render them inhumane/
4. Pardon tha truth, my dear/
U do not know how to love me,/
But U try/
5. Beyond reason/
Your love for me, a lonely citizen/
Beyond the malicious attempts of counter-reason/
Your insanity, tha loneliest native of your silly mind/
6. Thousands upon hundreds of words/
Verbs, nouns, phrases, proverbs, idioms/
Similes, onomatopoeias, metaphors/
Hyperbole, oxymoron, parables/
Eulogies and antilogies/
U hail at me/
Words – just words/
Words horny with idolatrous adoration/
Micro-genetically designed/
To hail at my incapacity to comprehend your silliness/
Your corroded idea of love/
A notion so gentle, so fucking perverse/
Confusing affection with selfless attention/
Confusing need with love/
I’m just a prize of your uncontrollable wanting/
7. U love me, but… /
U, do not love me/
For damn-you-stretch-yourself, U cannot/
For damn-you-strain-your-wits, U know not/
Tha what, and tha how of love/
Tha why – a ruthless burden I shall spare U/
8. Pardon tha truth, my dear/
For U, cannot know how to love me,/
But U try/
9. Beyond restriction/
U are a prisoner of your fucking love/
A docile slave of your bizarre love U are/
Beyond redemption/
10. Ignorance is a dangerous bliss/
Your claim an irrevocable sin frowned upon by amadlozi/
For U know tha rhetoric of your mouth/
Reciting it in tha poetry readings of your lonely mind/
But ironically, failing to know what U mean/
11. Too bad I am truth/
Most hated by liars grinning white their tooth/
Their teeth, with hate they seethe/
Scorned and tormented for my thorough-bred confessions/
Crucified for my failure to understand this sham/
This pardonable misdemeanor/
A leaking crucible of evil/
A serial social taboo untabooed/
But relabeled love/
12. Blame tha truth, dearest/
For U have no clue how to love me,/
But U try/
Jonna jo, ngwanešo, U try!/
13. But However sweet, and Nevertheless/
Notwithstanding, Howbeit, Yet frankly my dear/
U shall not test-drive your b-grade love on my heart/
14. U shall not be allowed to enjoy/
My sanity like a disposable toy,/
U may as well keep your lovingness/
Your shallow excuse to fucking possess/
A claim - To know that which I myself know less/
15. To call a truce on my rebelling emotions/
Straightening out, damn ironing my distortions/
To dress my cold heart with fire/
To quick-fix tha world like an orthodox messiah/
Tune all to harmony, gag tha whiners/
Courier me to tha toilet and wipe my lazing anus/
16. To bathe and feed me/
17. Live for me, and die for me/
18. Pray for me/
Grant my prayers/
Wing me, and fly for me/
19. To save me in the coming apocalypse/
To take my swim in tha boiling rivers of hell/
And negotiate me a five-star room in paradise/
Where only god and his virgin angels dwell/
20. Where U imagine you live/
21. In a reality unreal/
A miscarried child of your mind/
22. Where truth is not welcome/
And tha windows of sincerity are kept shut/
23. For there is one undeniable truth:/
24. U shall never know how to love –/
Not me, not U, not anyone/
Damn, even if U tried
-Fokof Satan-

THE ROAD TO HAVANA

if only the travel agent told me/
my heart will be tainted on the way to valhalla/
my soul will be hijacked @ the gates of gehenna/
that sinning will be standard as i make for pearly's/
i'll feel nothing when i hurt people closest to me/
innocent hearts lacerated for my failure to commit/
i'm sorry sistas my one heart was torn into two/
i had love for coitus but i fucked with banknotes/
love letters that were written never mailed to me/
still stacked in your bedroom with my physical address/
i'm here baby still around my knuckles bruised in a bout/
my spirit defiled my consience shiver sending echoes of guilt/

on the road to havana our only thoughts are in cigars/
captain morgan & a sequel to how stella got shagged/
relinguish responsibilities to a can of AMSTEL/
one wonders why we chasing on these girls like mongrels/
pussies are poisoned we still eat them without rubbers/
later forget to floss sleep with the smell on our pubics/
for sure we'll claim we been bewitched when we finally full blown/
learn our folliness when we cough blood & announce our exit/
only time we finally learn there're things money can't buy/
for everything else there's no mastercard it's cheap plastic/
afford a million ARVs but life remains elusive/
losing weight without dieting our sanity departed/
our trust still lies in cannabis fuck the god of a dollar/

on the road to havana we yelling 'hasta la vista siempre'/
bystanders wanna be us have-nots we toss fingers/
we arnachists fuck the taxman our returns are semen/
seal your envelopes with sperm blow fart in your office/
only love we got & give to amigos of a feather/
they give us guns today we share a kiss tomorrow/
let's all die by RPG become heroes tonight/
let's demand a guilottine if we lose the fight/
get our names on heroes' acre by the break of dawn/
here lies a batallion of 'fuc' the world' rebels/
let's bury beef my comrades there's a battle ahead/
i like this but i like it more with a tot of gin/
this green is sticky fuck a koerant i stole a rizla/

on the road to havana we shout 'viva fidel'/
we ain't here to support we came to start our own/
the love & peace movement reincarnated post lib/
empty our balls in sex orgies later test 'reactive'/
frame the results nail on walls like we won trophies/
put the blame on the door of the white house in dc/
where else to do it union buildings occupied by a denialist/
act like the US government urged us on in our fuck/
let's die in peace my people never point fingers/
like now i'm puffing on this weed til i sneeze my own blood/
have hypocrites on my back daily preaching heresy/
screaming 'holy, hail mary mother of god'/
where art thy love while we kneeling & we worship the cross/
teach us how to pray baby 'fore we walk through your door/
i urge you, join us & inherit our beefs/

on the road to havana we all donning fatigues/
armed with pens & papers soldiers out to kill/
identified our adversaries got mug shots in wallets/
they all look the same though they different races/
got chromes slugs engraved with names of our own comrades/
incase we fall short of our target we all commit self-death/
mass-suicide my people let's emulate branch davidians/
got dreams of bliss living well all multiplied by seven/
indulge in fun we manufacture fuck going to heaven/
since we are sinners in havana we'll all die like kebble/
on the road to havana hold my hand we rebels


KA LEHU LAKA

David wa Maahlamela/
O re tlogetše Maahlamela,/
Maahlamela ruri/
Matšhaba go nkga molomo,/
Maahlamela mmina kgomo ya monare,/
Monareng ’o a bo’ago Bonkopodi bodutla koma,/
Ga Mmathari ’a namane/
Ga Mmapelega batho./
O re tlogetše ge e le/
Kota e jelwe ke mohlwa,/
Re netšwe ke matlakadibe mahlophaasenya,/
Sedukuduku sedukološa naga,/
Se bo kgophile bophelo bja Tebogo,/
Se re tlogetše matlorotlorong a megokgo,/
Sello ke sammantlhodimare./
Ka lenaka e hlabile fase,/
Re rwele diatla./
Legare re be re lahlile phokeng/
Mahlo a gana go khuduga,/
Ge re bogetše phikoko go hlakela/
E benya-gadi boka mphatlalatšane,/
Ntšitširipa mosepela ka go tsatsankela,/
Hlogonkikiripa bogolo bofeta bja legapu,/
Senagana tše šweu feela./
Bja tsebe re ješitšwe tladi e amoša,/
Boreatseba ba re: "Monna Maahlamela,/
Fegolla tša borala/
Mampša re lapa melala,/
Re hlathollele gore o mang,/
Ditaola go kgakgelwa di kgakgetšwe/
Di šita go go hlatha."/
A ba lebelela a e šikinya hlogo,/
A ba alela magogo morwa Maruping/
A re: Lena malo-tena,/
Ke tsebja feela/
Ke senatla moaga a phušula,/
Lena le sa tlile go mphopholetša/
Gobane ke kgomo ya lešoka./
Ke kgomo ya meetlwa ke a hlaba/
Setswalwa ke dinare le dinoko,/
Setšwa le thetho badimong,/
Sehlwa se retwa e ke go retwa kgoši,/
Gona go retwa kgakgarapa ya lesogana Tebogo,/
Go retwa setlogolo sa dikgoši,/
Segakantšha le batšwabodikela./
Ga ke buka ya go hloka/
Matlakala sehloka mohola,/
Ga ke moya sehloka mathomo le mafelelo,/
Ga ke lewatle sehloka botšo le boyo,/
Ke mothokgomo ka bonwa ke a rekwa,/
Nna lepekepeke lephadimišatšhoša,/
Lephadimiša hlabane tša ntwa./
Ke lešole mogale boroko ga ke bo tsebe,/
Nkgwete ya moaparankwe sebata,/
Dingwe di retwa di bowa mokatong/
Ge e le nna ke retwa ke sa ya,/
Gobane ke mofenyi moila go fenywa,/
Kgaphamadi ke meetse ke a hlapa,/
Mogale ke mmona ka mabadi./
Thupšana tša baditi di ka ntirang?/
Ke paletše dikgatitswipitswipi tša/
Borabadia le Boraletsitle,/
Ba re ba nthema ka phema,/
Ka bowa ke tswatswaila motho sentsokela/
Moši wa šohla ka dinko,/
Ba imelwa ke ditsiba./
Ke tšhošitše bo Phaahla Mmakadikwe/
Le Bakone ba Marangrang,/
Ba re hleng o bopa setau/
Rena ditau dikgolo re šitwa,/
Ka re tše ga se tša go rwešwa,/
Ke ditšwa gaping la Modjadji mošaba ntlong/
Mošaba tšhipi tša makgowa./
Ge Sepedi se re:/
Motšheku ga a itšhekole/
Nna ke re nka itšhekola,/
Nka itheta la šala le beile/
Mokganya phatleng,/
Nna Moithetiseilagoretwa,/
Ka re go retwa ke tšhaba go senyeletšwa./
Ke bitšwa la-mmamogodu-lepelle/
Ka ge thetong ke etša Lepelle ke elela,/
Ke gopotša dihlogoputswa tša mohlamonene,/
Ba fetše ba re: Hle!/
Re segele seripanyana sa sereto,/
Re re ge o reta ka keuwe/
Rena re rete ka keno./
Ke yena yoo a llešago kgaetšedi tša lena,/
Di re nkebe bodimo ba re dimollele ka yena/
Re tseb’o swenkela mangwe mathari,/
Re re wa rena ke segadi sa bagale, Tebogo/
Go gadima yena ke go hlaba thedi,/
Mašolopudi ba ikhurometše ka dikobo,/
Go tšhabja sengangasegolo thobadingwemelala./
Yena molwayamarumo morwa ’a Modjadji,/
Modjadji ’a Matšie, phaswana ’a diphaswa/
Noko ya meetlwa ya seebe,/
Sebo’a Bolobedu bolobathaba/
Boela meetse a pula,/
Segoboša setiya bolebethwa/
Noko ’a mešito ’a tladi ’a tshadibja./
O rile go lwa le letebele a le fenya/
La eta le itheta le re:/
Ke lwele le Maahlamela,/
Legala la mohweleretšhipi kgonye ya morotong,/
Setlogolo sa Makhutšu ’a Mmatshangwane,/
Tshangwane ’a bo Lephaswalenaila/
Bobotse bophala bja makgarebe./
Afa le a nkwa makgarebe?/
Ge le nkwa le reng le sa hlabe mekgolokwane?/
Go hlakela ebe dipeulwane marung,/
Go lle megobo, makope le diletšo,/
Ga le patate lepatata lepatatela ruri,/
Le re go patata le kwewe ke merafe yohle,/
Selepe gomela mere o remile./
Lehono borwa bo fokile/
Megokgo ke phamphamo,/
Letšatšitšhiritšhiri sebutšwiša phure/
Le tsene ka dithaba le thabo yešu,/
Leswiswi ke kobo ya marega dipelong,/
Marama ke kgonye ya moketla e ipheditše,/
Re hlapa ka dikgobe./
Hlonamo e re mašole a hlotšwe ntweng,/
Gae mahlako ngwana’a tšiekgalaka o rotogetše,/
Yena moAfrika ’a mmala ’a sebilo/
Segadi sa lesogana,/
Ngwana wa thebe le lerumo,/
Lešikišiki selwa ka hlogo le mosela,/
Ntšitširipa seripa legapu ka letswele./
Megokgo ya motho e felela marameng,/
Ya rena maotong e fihlile,/
Megokgo ya mohlokamophomodi,/
Re timeletšwe ke ya bohlokwa taemane,/
Dipelo di kgatla sa masetlapelo,/
Bophelo bo re kgetše mahlare/
Go galaka ere sekgopha sa thaba./
O ile motho wa bo Montšhe,/
Montšhe montšha masogana megabaru,/
BoMatšie motšea a ikhomoletše,/
BoMaaladuma sedumadumiša dipoo,/
BoMakhukho mmelega seaparankwe,/
BoMamoraka serakarakiša bobodu,/
BoMmoni moswuela kgoro tša bo motho./
O ile motsarogaphoka re swere mafofa,/
Kgomo di tlile go ja boloko,/
Tlalaihlo le tsebe di tlile go re beka bekibeki,/
Megokgophororo e sa tlile go tlatša dikgamelo./
Megokgo sekokafatša menagano,/
Jo, nna Jo! Thwaadi thetong e širogile/
Lebolela le šetše nameng./
O ile…/
Eupša ga a ya ka moka,/
Mabjoko a gago a šetše wešu,/
Maele a gago ke kobo/
Re apara bošego le mosegare,/
Mantšu a gago ke lebone/
Lebonekela megopolo ya rena./
Mohlodi wa lefase ga a dule lefaseng,/
Ya gago tšhengwana o e lemile/
Re tla šala re e buna,/
Le ge o ile moletemohlaelathupa,/
Re tla šala re dupa/
Monkgo wa atla tša gago,/
Tsela tšhweu Monareng, o sepele botse!
Zororai murunyararo magamba yeAfrica

(dedicated to the heroes of Africa's liberation)
Rwasvika rufu hapana anoramba/
Hongu, maitorwa pasina tariro/
Misodzi topukuta nehapwa/
Neyangu meso handina kukuonai/
Dzenyu shungu dzokusungura Africa/

MuAzania ndakanzwa nezvako Steve Biko/
Waiva gamba ramaganiba/
Waisashanduka pakutaura asi pakurara/
Chisungo chiri chokutora ivhu kuvachena/
Tino ziva vakakuita kafira mberi/
Mumaoko yomurengi wakatisiya/
Aiwa, zorara zvako murunyararo/
Steve Biko/

Yako maungira nemutinhimira zvichimo munzeve/
Mune chimurenga chezimbabwe/
Wakamira semhakura Machel/
Sehuku hwakabvumbamira mhuri yeZimbabwe/
Rwako rufu rwakava serwendo kumuchato/
Rwakanya rufu pasina aiziwa/
Zorora murunyararo Samora Machel/

Aiwa, ndimizve dzinde reAfrica,/
Nazvino tino yaemura mabasa yengu baba Nyerere/
Kudai zvaiita taikukumbirirai kuti mudzokezve/
Makasunungura Tanzania/
Vana nhasi vopfachura mafara/
Maira gamba, uye muri baba muAfrica/
Zororai murunyararo sekuru Julius Nyerere/

Vaikuzivai neshiripiti mumaoko yomuvengi/
Zvamakaito Dzimbabwe zvakaona/
Kuturika jasi nengowani mutorongo/
Nyuchi dzika rwisa ranhu/
Zvose izvi zvairatidza simba remutema/
Baba Kamuzu Banda zororai murugare/

Chitaurirwa mbare dzokumusana/
Hwenyu humhare huri pachena/
Baba Zimbabwe (father Zimbabwe)/
Rwenyu rufu rwasiya mavanga mumwoyo yedu/
Nyangwe makanga makwegura asi tanga tisati/
Taguta kupangwa mazano/
Ndinoti zororai murunyararo baba Joshua Nkomo/

Uyu ndiwo wangu munamato/
Yepasi midzimu inoona/
Hapana aiziva kuti Africa ichasununguka/
Ndino kumbira vari pasi/
Nevematenga kuti vakubvumbamirei/
Tinotenda makasungura Africa/
Kana vose vandisina kudoma/
Mwari vanokunzwai



Power to the people (Amandla)

Power to Africa/
Our Mother and Father on whose land we dwell/
the pride of our forefathers/
who paid the ultimate price/
to reclaim their Africaness/
For us children of our Mother/
What we from the world/
was unheard of yesterday/
Time to join hands in celebrations/
The whole universe is in vibrations/

Power to the people of Lumumba/
Sons and daughters of Nkrumah/
Your sweat and tears never fell for mahala/
They watered the beautiful land of our ancestors/
Today we feel the pain you suffered/
eternally it will be etched in our hearts/
And we shall never forget/

Power to the people of Hintsa/
Great-grandchildren of Sekhukhune/
the offspring of Prophet Makana/
People of this great land/
fighting wars without guns and canons/
with spears and arrows/
you liberated your people/

Power to the people of Sobukwe/
Grandchildren of Mandela/
A mere mentioning of your names/
send shivers down cowards’ spines/

As their smiles disappeared like mist/
on a cold day that suddenly turned warm/
These names persuading brave leaders/
to unite the black nations of Africa/
Brothers folding their legs into a 90-degree attention/
In the name of mzabalazo/
Calling for the suspension of our people detentions/
Sisters ululating not for joy but liberation/
Following the steps of our great leader s’ intelligence/
Our leaders/
The soul of defiance/
Genuine masters of resistance/

Power to the people of Biko and Mokaba/
Victims of torture and interrogation/
Survivors of segregation and humiliation/
Brothers and sisters who were robbed of their lives/
With your efforts we managed to gain/
We salute your dedication/
For combating oppression/

Rest in peace/
And be rest assured/
Our praise to you would never cease

These hands


These hands know/
putrid puss/
from oozing wounds/
They know/
the musty feel/
of varying forms/
of faecal formations/
They know/
the warmth/
of gushing blood/
from gaping bodily spaces/
They know/
of mucuous, sliding/
out of varying orifices/
These hands remember/
the metallic feel/
of numerous guns,/
when the telling click/
was heard/
They recall/
the rumbling palm embrace/
over grenades,/
ready for the release/
of mortal destruction/
These hands will never forget/
the prickling touch/
of barbed wire/
on boarder fences/
These hands/
can still feel/
the roughness/
of unknown tree leaves/
that served as toilet paper/
in bushes far away/
These hands/
have felt pulsating hearts/
over extended abdomens,/
they know the depth of vaginas,/
the opening mouths of wombs,/
they know the grasp/
of minute, minute-old clenched fists/
These hands/
have squeezed/
life’s juice from/
painful pounding breasts/
These hands/
have made love,/
producing vibrations/
from receiving lovers/
These hands/
have pressed buttons,/
knobs and switches,/
they have turned screws/
and wound clocks,/
steered wheels/
and dug holes,/
held instruments,/
implements and ligaments,/
moulded monuments,/
created crafts,/
healed hearts/
These hands/
now caress the keyboard,/
fondle pens/
that massage papers,/
weaning fear,/
weaving words,/
wishing with every printed word/
that this relationship/
will last forever

love or hate

loving you is the best thing/
that happen to me. yes you are/
beautiful words can't bring you/
down, stones can't kill you/

they - they - they/

they call you dairy milk/
they forgot to ask about your/
identity. they forgot to ask about/
your hobbies, what you love or hate/
they forgot to ask about your goals/
in life. you became a person out/
of people, causeof those who brought/
you to life. they are gone forever/
you are one cause of your love/
and hatred/

love me or hate me i don't give a !/

you are mine in my life/
i don't want you to love/
me or hate me cause i'm/
already in your heart in your /
dreams in your mind. i love/
you and i don't hate/
you for being in my/
life

individual poets featured here own copyright to their works and no further reproduction should be done without prior consent. Some of the poems were sourced from the following books; RAISIBE, IN THE NAME OF AMANDLA, THESE HANDS, HYBRID, and TIMBILA

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous6/24/2007

    Kudus

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5/20/2008

    hey man i saw the poetry festival and eish jo it's tight. really love it l.when is this years festival going to happen 'cause i am also a poet myself i will like to feature in this years event jst check my blog to see my work www.lira2.blogspot.com .oh one thing i am also from shatale(magraskop) i am a student at the t.u.t nst campus if u knw rudy mitchell u will know me.i also run an arts club at the university with some few friends and we are planning on amking an event at the nst civic centre early this year.my e-mail is leratomonareng@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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