Poetry Bulawayo

Let me rise by bending over to pick another sister fallen Let me be the one on a chicken bus to give the woman with a child on her back my seat because i know with no doubt her mother like my own taught her the same that if she finds me in her place she would do the same for me Let me be silent in the face of adversity yet speak my peace quietly teaching the next sister to speak with love and repremand with the same let me rise by bending over to pick another sister fallen without pomp or fanfare purely reaching out to the woman in me Let me be my sister's keeper not to be remembered by mere words spoken but by every life my life touched by every sore my hand touched and soothed let me let me be my sister's keeper because I am.

Image - sacredwaste.com As state witness I told the court that the ones saying they had been beaten Had done the beating in the rural areas I have never been to the rural areas. They said if I didn’t say what they told me I would get more than broken ribs. Don’t call me a coward One held my hand the other held my other hand A third crushed a log into my ribs A forth crushed my testicles   for good measure As state witness I told the court that the ones saying their buttocks had been burnt their homes had been burnt and their wives raped Were the ones who had actually done those horrible things.

Your father used to sit by the bridge at the shops smoking marijuana The man you call daddy is not your father Damn! How I wish he was They used to say your father was one of the young man who mugged people by the clinic intersection. I heard they stabbed your father to death two years ago in a senseless street scuffle Your father used to sit by the bridge at the shops propositioning young girls; I now know the incident that produced you was rape. Your father used to sit by the bridge at the shops drinking undiluted brandy They say he was stabbed to death in a senseless street scuffle two years ago.

Image - leolaksi.wordpress.com The promise Still padlocked In my heart Memories Flashing back Unending,   I, still holding on To our first kiss But you have forgotten me...