Rose

(for Khanyi)

She was a Rose
Budding in the spring dawn
Her petals wrapt in sweet teary love droplets

She loved dearly
She loved blindly
And loved to death

And as they say:
Love was the motive for murder

Burn so bright(Tragedy)

To burn so bright and die young
What a tragedy, to rise to life's apex
And shine so bright u blind a star
Only to die in the prime of ur brightness

See a star in its rush of brightness
Shines so bright it kills itself
And vanish a spark-less gold dust
Never to shine again not even dimly

See flames in the rush of glory
They burn so bright
The fire dies with its flames
Consumed by its blaze

But what now of a burning inside?
Do you curb it's brightness and vigor
And hope it lasts longer
Or do we die young either way

What a tragedy to have defied nature
Burnt so bright u became hope
And just as we basked in ur warmth
You die, young.

Dambudzo Lives

(In memory of Dambudzo Marechera)

Death, stupid dearth
Have you seen Dambudzo's ghost
Lingering in the streets of Masvingo
Stupid Death what have you gained
In his grossly untimely death
Are you a victor now
That he is a memory
Slowly and painfully washing away
Tell me Mr Stupid Death
Stare me in the eye if you got wealthier
Robbing humanity of its expression

Mr Stupid Death, your time is up
For Dambudzo can never die
He lives in this lines
Preserved in the memory of time
But yours Mr Death is up!

Bemu

Bemu Ndi la mini?
Ndi songo buba
Ndi paulelwani?
Ndi songo lowa

Nne kani Ndi mmbengwa
Mbudzi ya gwembe
Ndi musandiwa
Nguvho ya pfene

Izwi nau lowa Ndi songo lowa

Black skin

This skin is a curse
It’s a burden of untold sins
It is borne not without prejudice

Under the shadow of this skin
My aspiration to be free expires
Forever lost in the mirage of youth

How do I think free?
When the shadow remains?
Maybe when I've done eternal time
I will ascent with a new skin

For who will free me
from the shadow of this skin

Cold

It seems u grow cold
As you grow old
Stuck with broken dreams
And a mute pursuit of happiness
There is not much to marvel
Your solitude is a blinding darkness
And friends grow fewer
As the coldness looms large

Is it the broken dreams?
Is it life's arid emptiness?
Is it the man within?
Grown suicidal self mutilating
Where did the warmth go?

Ode to an Old Dream

Old old old dream

When i, with blurry eyes

sought you from the depth of my heart

You vanished like a wind at dawn

Heartbroken i was left dispondent

On my own to pickup where u left

and make believe with whatever glitered

Old old old dream

A wrecking hope

a life shattering aspiration

Thats all you u were

And when i cared to face reality

I was on my own

Old old old dream

Now that i have woken to a new reality

A blissful reality

You emerge like a vision in the night

But dear old dream

The future has come

And i am old news to you

Sirte

(Dedicated to the late Muammar Gadaffi after thinking hard about the past week)

Let it be known
In Sirte and beyond
From Morocco to Madagascar
Cape to Cairo:

Matyrdom is Victory!

Gadaffi Lives!

In the dark (shine)

When your heart can't see no more
Stuck in the depth of darkness
Don't be weary and wonder

For it is in the pitch darkness
That stars shine
And thunderous powers are generated
All in the split of a second

When u are stuck in the dark
You are yet to shine
And will dazzle the world far and near

For great minds, great people
Were but conceived in the dark
When nothing could reveal
A birth so intricate and delicate

But remember this;

Soon the night fade
And the stars won't shine
And the thunder will fade

But it is noble to shine in the dark

Christina (Reminiscing)

The big tree on the road from the clinic
The long walk down the sandy trail
Moonlight watch by the lakeside
A chit chat with a tat by the post office

A midnight walk across Hilbrow
Cloud nine at 6th floor lift in Braamfonteiny
The innocent chat at parktown
The cousin's day, shopping at Cresta

Dinner through the struggles
A wide endless gap of uncertainty
Cape Town, Johannesburg... Parting ways
Joburg, pallotones the dome of everlastingness
A life written as if on a rugged canvas

Meaningless syllables and spaces
But brought to life in the riches of your presence
U alone are the poetry
That brought a rugged canvas to splendor