Sunday 16 March 2014

I DID IT ALL FOR YOU

What is it that I didn’t do for you
Didn’t I give respect and honor
Wasn’t I like the women of old
Who adorned themselves not in braided hair or jewelery
But I adorned myself with a quiet and gentle spirit

It was not of love being blind 
It was not stupidity that I endured it all
Never my fault that I was naïve
I possessed hope that you would change
I carried thy weaknesses in pure love

But in response you took my heart
Crushed it for I was of little strength
For once you didn’t care I was also human
That I also needed to be loved
That all I ever wanted in return was just your love
In the summers and winters of life
That was to keep us going

But now am packing my heart
You found in a broken state but never cared
It would have been bleeding at such a time
But amazingly
The Lord knoweth well thus He went ahead of time
To stand in a strategic position that
Even when am exiting your life
It is in a preserved state
He made me untouchable

Because I am His daughter you see
I will smile at the morning to be birthed out for the night past
For it bring with it abundant joy
Behold a new and better future has been set.
Thank you for the lessons learnt
Both good and bad
For unto them the Lord loves
It shall all work together for my profiteering


By Charity Mbundinga (Zimbabwe)

Thursday 13 March 2014

THE GOLD THAT NEVER CAME FROM THE GROUND

Dreams torn asunder by fate,
an expedition that brought tears
instead
of smiles.
We can hear you screaming from the
pit,
we can see you begging for mercy
asking God to reverse the horrible
scene.
We can see you holding on each other
tight
saying out prayers to the Gods in
unison
We can hear the echo of your final
scream
for help
before death crept on you .

The children weeped continously,
the women cried the loudest
and even men could not hide the tears
triggered by the memories of a warrior
who died a horrible death.
It is to you the begining
of a life we dread of
and to us a loss that can never be
compansated.

Some fainted,
some went mad for a while in
disbelief.
Some found it difficulty to believe
until their calls were answered by a
total
stranger
with a melancholous voice confirming
to
the horrible news;
'I am sorry the owner is no more
he got trapped in a mine.'

(may their souls rest in peace)

By Edward Dzonze (Zimbabwe)
Picture source: Lisa Kristine: Photos that bear witness to modern slavery



Wednesday 12 March 2014

Pansiwaa...

A goddess who struts in rocking beads
Ah! So do you think the lizard prostrates for nothing?
My Nubian queen of cinnamon delight, fleshy as a baobab
Face of a harvest moon, dispersing stars to an early sleep
Grace of the gazelle, floating kapok in the Harmattan Winds!
Pansiwaa, with her lips of zebra stripes, inviting like the froth
of African palm wine
Pansiwaa, her eyes are of the panther’s, pushing darkness
into a broad daylight
But for your warmth
I have missed in this wilderness of lashing coldness
Run my fingers through your fronds of jet black dreads
And have my sorrows melted in the grove of your shrine
I’ve sailed the seven seas, and felt its turbulent waves against my skin
This blackness which you nourished with your tender hands of shea-butter
Are now tough like the rhino’s
That only your Congo could dissolve
So long my soul has been tramped, muddied in the waters
of lords who never knew me a Negus
A Prince, who once surveyed my Savannahs of anthills and darting impalas,
Of crouching leopards who felt the sharpness of the hunter’s spear
But into thy coastal arms I return, through Elmina’s ”gate of yes return”
Thy radiant smile, my bearing found
Thy coconut water my thirst quenched
And in thy gentle breeze a moment restored!
Adjei  Agyei-Baah  (Ghana) 
Picture source: www.facebook.com/jadiliafrika

Revelation

The soft flow of your steps,
caressing each eye,
that catches a glimpse of how you lift your feet,
there’s a feel that compels one to stand, stare and sigh,
your smile brushing every word ,magnifying tunnels to ones greeting.

Revealing every lie,
those eyes that ties,
tunnels to portals of hearts,
rebuking evil intentions to seek redemption,
admiration is vital to your eyely command,
lady on unseasoned vision,
beauty isn’t modified with a gruelling glance.
Yours is as simple as Gods revelation.

By Napo Robert Mokoena (South Africa) 

Picture source: www.facebook.com/jadiliafrika

Tuesday 11 March 2014

ON MOTHERS' DAY

Here is to the breasts
my father fondled with affection

before becoming the only source of
food I knew.

Here is to the lips
that gave me the first kiss,
the same lips that taught me to say
when I want to pee.
Here is to the hip
that gave me a sure grip
while strapped tight on her back.

Here is to the woman
who endured the labour pains
for me to breath this air and have
blood flowing. in my veins.

Here is to a mother
who chose not to abort
so that we can be living testimonies of
her unfailing love.
Here is to you
on a mothers' day.


By Edward Dzonze (Zimbabwe)
Picture source: www.facebook.com/jadiliafrika

Saturday 1 March 2014

Upon a FRIEND

Upon a friend you can depend,
And this has always been the trend,
From ancient times to modern day,
A friend will always find a way.
By lending hands and being there,
A friend can show you that they care,
And friends always know what to do,
To help you out and pull you through.
So always celebrate your pals,
And whether they be guys or gals,
Just treasure them forever more,
For they're the people you adore.


By Adedayo Adeyemi Agarau (Nigeria)

Picture source; http://eatingrichly.com/06/grief-and-joy/attachment/00001957/

show me the differences

Show me the thin membrane
Between love and hate
Teach me how to cross it
And maybe stay on one side
And never on the hating
Draw for me the line
That seperates insanity and sanity
So i could limit thyself
In norms acceptable to your sanity
And cease to be the odd one out
Show me the difference
Between a smile and a frown
So i will smile for you
In my own happy frown

Teach me the small things of life
When i grow big
I will hold them in my heart
And know the difference
Between pain and pleasure
Love and hurt
And madness and creativity…
By Pardon Gwara  (Zimbabwe)

Picture source: www.google.com