Poetry Bulawayo

1. Jazz by Lilian Dube Photograph by Resta Nyamwanza I met jazz in a dream Down by the river Leaning against an amarula tree Playing the pennywhistle To the sound of my heartbeat & the smell of the last rains She made love to my senses Drowned my soul I can’t breathe, can’t let go. 2. Between A and B by Babusi Nyoni Photograph by Resta Nyamwanza Lines, LINES Electricity lines Zip-zapping over skylines On city grid guidelines Load-shedding nine-to-nine’s “Danger! Electricity line!” signs. Deadlines... Telephone lines Long and entangled like telephone line lines. Telephone line fines, paid To nourish telephone line vines. Weaving... Over-under. Mashed. Confused. Hooked up on telephone line twines. Trapped between the (04)’s and (09)’s. Or is it C4’s and Tech 9’s? Underground cables? No. These are landmines. Landlines, to our foreheads add lines. Call them headlines. HE...

Photo by Resta Nyamwanza We have danced and sweated sweated and bled a river. We have sung and prayed We have played our drums have hit our percussions to a shrieking crescendo prophets clad in red green yellow have shaken our heads into dizzy confusion dirty fingers inserted into girls and mothers. We have sung and danced and prayed And have hit the same brick walls We look up to the heavens and say Pindirai Mwari* * Pindirai Mwari – please intervene God .

Old war lord barbell fish in tin pot roasts Eyes curse tormentors one more time before bursting into soup Conscious that it’s grave be the stomachs of two fatherless Generations Never school, nasty disease between thighs But mother and child Seven day school uniform, hips for stale chips But mother and child. Two figures lost to the present Dipping unwashed hands into old chemical container Now plate Smiling sadly But mother and child.