February 18, 2019

Poem

Ndaba Sibanda is one of the most prolific poets to emerge from Zimbabwe.

With Power, Ignorance equals Death.

"Be the catalyst for positive change..."

"She would never ever feel foreign..."

Weary of endless protest...

A former National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) nominee, Ndaba's poems, essays and short stories have been published in Africa and the US.

Who is he? Why doesn't he have better clothes? Such a sad sight...or is it?

"...toward the magic of the snow..."

"...but the music is gone into inaudibility..."

Fed Up with this system...

"...Sucking peace out of the mind..."

...Kickbacks come first, The people come last...

A timely vision of rights and responsibility...

A timely poem for a world in shock...

And in what land was hardship better than what now transpires...?

"... One rumour was that he had a money-spitting snake he fed..."

"...They say your problems come from far. Far? Did people from far destroy your factories?.."

"...termites and maggots of corruption..."

Who in our world indeed would not prefer honesty over lies, and justice over tyranny...?

"...The poor people's silence..."

Because there are people in the world who worship money above all else...

"You have muddied the waters..."

"...Let's call this what it is..."

"...transformed their blindness into alertness..."

"...let a hunger for story-telling eat me up..."

"It is the wish and prayer of every patriotic African..."

"...Were they not in that mess because of his master's inanities?.."

"...It was more of an error than an era..."

"...The same flock with their archaic hymn..."

"...people's endless stories and problems..."

"...Of pretending, pushing and duping..."

"...The Bulawayans were livid about many, many peculiar issues..."

"...but you give me something painfully real!.."

"...Hence cranes are like the thighs of a tortoise..."

"...at all times she wondered whether his head wasn't full of wind..."

"...Land. Legislation? Constitution? Consultations?.."

"...This day is not a holiday, this day is a vigil to mourn..."

"...She lost trust in those who were supposed to protect her..."

Beginning a weekly poetic commentary by Ndaba Sibanda. Look around you and see where the words resonate...

"...professing one thing but practicing another..."

The uphill battle...

"...during the reign of the unseated strongman..."

"...a committed unifier -- yes, a committer of crimes -- NO..."

" It was their humble version of The Country Has Talent..."

"...not only the right cut but a saintly one too..."

"...Do you know how many houses could be bought..."

"...whether her calling him a mole made him one..."

"...it is a case of crooks out, cooks in?"

"I used to think people desired peace..."

"...How many notorious culprits, or outright criminals..."

"...Dawn stirred with its smiling rays..."

"...She had to go back home..."

"...basic commodities have kissed scarcity AGAIN..."

"...of course, the ruining party was represented..."

"what is stewardship without empathy..."

"Is it not time to cook real food..."

"...a bearing on investment and democracy..."

"That is what he told a man..."

"...If your ruler, to his or her discredit, has always run your nation like it's his or her privately-owned company..."

"...she delivered speeches that eulogised woman freedom stalwarts..."

"...I'm telling you this because I seek to open up doors..."

"...Bulawayo was a fabulous visitor attraction, used to be spotlessness' cousin and definition..."

"...Now with industrial pollution and corruption conquered and buried..."

"...In spite of their adversities, they always find solace in jokes..."

"...The height of hyperinflation happened in mid-November 2008..."

"...please stop, we're starving to death and weak and suffering..."

"...Operation Restore Legacy was one more act of crazy desperation..."

Short

And who can say where he is, or where he will eventually find himself?

Apocalyptic prose from a prophet of liberation...

Essay

The Piker Press celebrates its 12th anniversary this week. With Ndaba Sibanda, we exhort all writers to free the stories within them.

Opinion

Author and poet Ndaba Sibanda reviews Marianne Szlyk's book of poetry, "I Dream of Empathy."