We choke under cover of darkness
Whilst others laugh in full glare of the sun
We sprung to chase our dreams
But woes of the sun hold us in captivity still
Who on Earth did we kill
to be punished this hard?
Who on Earth bewitched us
that has refused to die?
Were we really fashioned from clay or sand?
Methinks we're moulded at twilight
When God was damn weary
So into Eden we're dumped--incomplete
to find bearing
remake and unmake our varied forms
thus befit Earth's dictates
and other men's view of us...
We are milked of our souls
And alligned on extreme corners of the world
to eat our bakheba or air
And tall walls are erected
To imprison us in free world of nothingness
But we need one another!
They buy our votes
and milk our sweat;
We will dig their graves
and shave their heads.
In season of tears
they too cry...
But why do the rich compete
to shed tears
with the poor?
A poor man's tears are bitter
Are the rich man's sweeter?
The poor cry of inadequacy
What on Earth renders
a rich man's eyes red, wet and swollen?
*
My old man starved
when the owner of his yam shortened his hand
He survived on crumbs
off the high table
awaited by hungry hounds...
Then Whitman arrived with his magic
that fed the brain with wonders
Children-- presumed owners of future--
Like sheep were piled together...
My father threw away our ancestral treasure
and secured a place in the house of magic:
So I could gather my share
and carry home to nourish my clan
I wasted myself
Rummaging through men's heads--
That are famed for founding prescriptions
they couldn't partake!
I wasted myself
Blistering my tender buttocks
on cold metals
that seat third-rate scholars
in rusty University halls
that leak like a basket full of water!
I appealed to my impatient patience
To endure savouring boring lectures
From odd-looking dons--
Reading yellowed fossils
word by word
comma and fullstop!
Now the market at me stares coldly
With my sack of papers
Who needs my brains?
I'd be swinging in the ministry's chair today
Had that pig looked not at my name and sorry pockets
Akasa warmed his bed with cheap perfume
Got what she wanted, and had herself robbed...
Nothing but a solid meal
Can convince a rioting stomach to cool
But where can the landless harvest?
Where can job seekers get bread
Whilst on their neck is a beast
taxing them mercilessly...
*
mother abandoned her infants
to pamper another woman's brats
then the boss raped her one night;
his beautiful wife starved him
with unending chores overtime...
He rendered father wifeless
and his wife's vineyard a playground for boys.
Before sunset, my sister nearly went into a grave
Some creature accused her
of being very dark
like a moonless night
She threw away her precious beauty
And scavenged for a plastic cloak
She had breasts and buttocks anew curved--
Making men hover around her
like flies on shit!
She will die rich.
(c) wafula p'khisa
Whilst others laugh in full glare of the sun
We sprung to chase our dreams
But woes of the sun hold us in captivity still
Who on Earth did we kill
to be punished this hard?
Who on Earth bewitched us
that has refused to die?
Were we really fashioned from clay or sand?
Methinks we're moulded at twilight
When God was damn weary
So into Eden we're dumped--incomplete
to find bearing
remake and unmake our varied forms
thus befit Earth's dictates
and other men's view of us...
We are milked of our souls
And alligned on extreme corners of the world
to eat our bakheba or air
And tall walls are erected
To imprison us in free world of nothingness
But we need one another!
They buy our votes
and milk our sweat;
We will dig their graves
and shave their heads.
In season of tears
they too cry...
But why do the rich compete
to shed tears
with the poor?
A poor man's tears are bitter
Are the rich man's sweeter?
The poor cry of inadequacy
What on Earth renders
a rich man's eyes red, wet and swollen?
*
My old man starved
when the owner of his yam shortened his hand
He survived on crumbs
off the high table
awaited by hungry hounds...
Then Whitman arrived with his magic
that fed the brain with wonders
Children-- presumed owners of future--
Like sheep were piled together...
My father threw away our ancestral treasure
and secured a place in the house of magic:
So I could gather my share
and carry home to nourish my clan
I wasted myself
Rummaging through men's heads--
That are famed for founding prescriptions
they couldn't partake!
I wasted myself
Blistering my tender buttocks
on cold metals
that seat third-rate scholars
in rusty University halls
that leak like a basket full of water!
I appealed to my impatient patience
To endure savouring boring lectures
From odd-looking dons--
Reading yellowed fossils
word by word
comma and fullstop!
Now the market at me stares coldly
With my sack of papers
Who needs my brains?
I'd be swinging in the ministry's chair today
Had that pig looked not at my name and sorry pockets
Akasa warmed his bed with cheap perfume
Got what she wanted, and had herself robbed...
Nothing but a solid meal
Can convince a rioting stomach to cool
But where can the landless harvest?
Where can job seekers get bread
Whilst on their neck is a beast
taxing them mercilessly...
*
mother abandoned her infants
to pamper another woman's brats
then the boss raped her one night;
his beautiful wife starved him
with unending chores overtime...
He rendered father wifeless
and his wife's vineyard a playground for boys.
Before sunset, my sister nearly went into a grave
Some creature accused her
of being very dark
like a moonless night
She threw away her precious beauty
And scavenged for a plastic cloak
She had breasts and buttocks anew curved--
Making men hover around her
like flies on shit!
She will die rich.
(c) wafula p'khisa
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