Thursday, 25 April 2013

GOODBYE LEONARD....


Clad in graduating green robe and black hat
All dressed up with a goofy smile
Readying to take on the adult world..
The Hippocrates oath ushering you into a bittersweet life of service
I look on in envy, simultaneously beaming with pride
You are setting the standard and I am following…
The scene changes,
You, me, uncle and aunty pose for photos
The scene changes
I give a toast at your wedding reception dinner
The scene changes
Happy but tired, you cradle your first born son in your arms
The scene changes
I am in graduating green, you in a charcoal grey suit, we pose for a photo
We are the doctors…
With a start, the sandman drags me out of my daydream
Reality settles and my heart tears up a time more
Something is wrong, something is very wrong
The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the birds tweeting
But something is very wrong
Surely Loki God of mischief has played a bad April fool’s joke on me
I am waiting for the punch line.
Waiting for someone to scream ‘Gotcha’!!
Waiting for you to come out of the shadows and laugh at my misery ridden face
But the harsh slap of reality is all I get
You are gone
Amidst an atmosphere of mystery and the unknown
You are gone
All that’s left is a soulless composition of carbon
Unrecognizable,,,but it’s you
Lying there, with a secret no one shall ever know
You are gone
As your eternal bed is lowered into the dust , the shock and disbelief still resonate
As the dust embraces your resting place, the reality finally hits 
As the day dream ends and I look upon the wreaths, the truth becomes a bitter pill to swallow
Now I believe what they say, that the good die young
Your journey was cut short, just as it begun
Such a slap of irony, at the end of a 7yr run
But defiant to the end, you remain alive in my memories
In a congruence of possible futures that could have defined the rest of your life
In a walk down memory lane were we once took down a pair of 6 pacs…..
But wishes and memories fail to stand in for the cold hard truth.
Till we meet again,
Goodbye Leonard.

By Muchimba Sinzala Kabeta  (Zambia) 


From the poet-This piece is dedicated to Leonard Sibajene who was my cousin, A good friend,bother and mentor over the years who died on April 1st 2013 (ironically april fools day), He was just about to write his final exam and complete his 7 year medical course. His death has left a void and no answers meet the endless questions. sleep well buddy



Friday, 19 April 2013

A destitute love...


I am well past the stage of writing poetry
meaningless verses that spell the void in me
trying to console myself
from the sad and inevitable reality
the promise of what is to come
and the memories of what is lost

I have seen flowers wilt
have watched rivers dry
have heard beautiful songs end
the sun set each day
the love shrunk each minute

I rode high on this train
I guess I arrived when I still wanted to go
the journeys are so short
when a wave of euphoria is around you
but the crashes
the crashes are so severe
                                                  because of the momentum in the waves
I see it in the air
the way a farmer drought in the clouds
the barrenness of our love
and the bitterness of truth

And to think I loved you
I wonder why it happens
the same way bats wonder why morning comes
when the sunshine burns their wings
exiling them to their dark caves

and now I do not write poetry anymore
or conceal my feelings in words
I just see it in the air
a destitute love

Pardon Gwara (Zimbabwe)

photo credits- www.facebook.com/afrofuture

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

ACHILLES PHALLUS...


I kissed her skin and tasted
her buttermilk dew drop smoothness
Curves like hill roads I laid her on rose bed.
she clung onto me with toes and nails and with the winds I soared high above 
Petals unraveled a calyx of pink sweetness and I fell from heaven and lapped on her nectar sweet.

O Aegean siren who feasts on the hearts of men, your sweet song was my undoing.
Her sweet voice caressed my ear as I fell deeper and deeper. Her cleft of thighs the vice sooting my virtues gripping tighter and tighter. As I rose I fell and the falling was good. and so I fell again and again...
And as the heavens erupted casting a million stars over our thunderstruck bodies we fell back on the petals and watched the eclipse. in our scales the light was heavier than the darkness and so we chose to dance until the zodiac morning came.

Now as I lie on this bed of nails I'm reminded of the hand that drew the arrow that not only struck my heart but my very manness.

By Mncedisi Malinga (Zimbabwe)
photo credits- www.youtube.com

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

untold story of my sister.....


Do you remember my sister?
Born and breed African until the day 
We dug and buried her six feet underground 
Remember the days before tragedy struck?

Everybody knew the tale but no one ever told?
Who would even dare?
Such stories could only bring shame and disrepair
So we all turned blind eyes and pretended not to care.
Isn't it a woman's place to stay by her husband through it all?

They said pain was inevitable though temporary
So she aimed to please and be exemplary
But when the circle does not break
Stories are fabricated to create fault where there is none
And cover up the truth behind every eye that turned blue.

But I still remember my sister 
Born to be sold to the neighbor's son
For a few cattle in the name of marriage
Freedom became an illusion and coming back home
Was never an option

I remember the cold stares when HE thought no one was looking
The hushed murmurs that brought chills down my spine
Gradually I saw the light disappear from her eyes...

Eventually she broke
We cried but still, no one ever told
But i still remember my sister
DO YOU? 



 By Boineelo Jennifer Legotlwane (Botswana)
photo credits- www.facebook.com/afrofuture

i wanted.......

I wanted to write you a poem 
but i ran out of ink. 
My fingers wouldn't bend, 
my mind wouldn't think, 
i couldn't even move my hand. 

I wanted to recite you a poem 
but my tongue started stuttering, 
i started shaking, 
something inside me was moving, 
inside me i conceived a feeling that still keeps me wondering, 
wondering and questioning myself why this is so hard. 

I wanted to break the ice 
by looking through the lenses of your eyes, 
i needed to recite for your sight, 
for i had words i couldn't write 
and trying to force 'em out of me didn't feel right. 
My thoughts felt tight 
and i honestly needed you to see this sight, 
this sight of me full of fright. 

I wanted to hold you in my arms, 
or hold your hand in the middle of my palm, 
but i couldn't move and inside my mind i heard my favourite psalm, 
"The Lord is my shepherd and i shall want", 
it was contradicting the feeling i had, 
for i wanted you so bad, 
so bad that i'm writing this feeling sad. 

I wanted to be by side when i finally wrote these words, 
however you were in my mind and my spirit is by your side 
hence i broke the laws i had to abide, 
neither looked behind nor hid.


By  Nomthandazo Tsembeni  "Lola-Lady Black Poet"  ( South Africa ) 

picture credits: http://www.sodahead.com/fun/did-you-ever-use-an-ink-well/question-3556893/

Few men left in this world......


There are few men left in this world but too many males,
Males who run from their children and hide behind tales,
Males who lie to be loved keep covering trails,
They neglect all their sons, leaving daughters with mums.

Who will father those children, if their own fathers run?
Who will marry those girls that they use and they shun?
These males are not men; real men have a plan,
You may run from your seed, but your judgment will come.

But these girls are not married; they’re just giving it up,
In the cars with those males and say they’re living it up,
Pastors preach about it but they giggle and laugh,
See reality unfold and turn from simple to tough.

You may think this enough, because I’m saying the truth,
But my mission in this industry is teaching the youth,
First I'm reading my books then am reaching the booth,
Hope at least one person will put this to use.

By Michael Mupotaringa (Zimbabwe )


Picture credits -www.facebook.com/afrofuture

Monday, 1 April 2013

footprints in the sand.....

Once we were young
  • unburdened by this life
    listening to singing birds
    with the earnestness from the heart
    once, we left footprints in the sand

    then we grew up
    moved with time
    created memories
    we had our loves
    bruised our frail hearts
    and again,
    left footprints in the sand

    we moved into adulthood
    faced life anew
    realised there was more to it
    than just memories from long back
    we learnt to smile
    when all we felt was pain
    we learnt to laugh
    when all we felt was bitterness
    we became many things
    and again,
    we left footprints in the sand


    By Pardon Gwara (Zimbabwe)

    photo credits- www.google.com/footprintsinthesand