Polkadot Skirts by Zibusiso Mpofu

The last time I saw Sekai

She had dust on her feet and grasshoppers in her hand

She loved chasing dreams and always danced in the rain

Hoping, secretly, that her cynical and old great aunt wouldn't catch her

With her feet in the sun.

She had the heart of lion, used to go round places

Stealing mangoes into her old panties, and showing us the chocolates that her father

Sent to her,

''Where is he?'' we used to ask...''In the U.K'' she used answer simply

Nobody, but she and her cynical and old great aunt

Who had hair full of years and no teeth, knew where that was.

Sekai loved catching fireflies

That Was Before Her Father Took Her Across The Ocean

Now she wears polkadot skirts, and little polkdot tights

And talks in a tongue that her cynical and old great aunt can't understand

No one calls her Sekai anymore, but Sarah or Susan or something like that

And no...the girl in the polkadot skirt doesn't remember me at all.