March 01, 2021

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..."

"...Is it supported by gold..."

"...as bigotry is foisted upon them like expired sedatives..."

"Straight she marched into their headquarters..."

"...a hurting truth is slanted toward obduracy..."

"...their goal was to get stinking rich..."

"They sang and shouted with joy as he paced about, whispering..."

"...they will revive THEIR nation..."

"...now the same souls have landed hard on the ground..."

"...sang and sang at a time unknown and wrong..."

"...put away those poverty-prone politicians' poisons..."

"it seems to be collapsing like a pack of crazy cards..."

"...she was a blessing to her patients..."

"...like a crayfish running forward and backward...

"a crusader who cuddled a skunk..."

"...That dehumanizes and destroys decency..."

"...Dishonesty breeds uncertainty..."

"...It's hale and hearty for the mind..."

Where, indeed?

"...cold plates know there is a grave problem..."

"...in an act of mudslinging sibling rivalry..."

"...It's heaven for the corrupt..."

"...sad graveyards of justice..."

"...As the flames of the land 'revolution' were doused..."

"...These destructive pests have no shame..."

"...He was no panAfricanist. Not at all..."

"...Where is the spirit of ubuntu, or humanity in Africa?.."

"...Had she stepped on the tail of a lion?..."

"...I said cheerio to the consumption of meat and eggs..."

"...They twisted and turned with effortless grace and charm..."

"...To pretend that poverty is shrinking is stupidity ..."

b

"...She excelled to the chagrin of loathers..."

"...Run as if you have torched the touchy tail Of a lion..."

"...Why fear a darkness without leopards?..."

"...the poor and powerless say what is getting worse is poverty..."

"...He propounded a bold trajectory, a climate revolution..."

"As the drunk teacher was saying..."

"That he was a towering figure was no debate..."

"...A life whose paths lead to ruin..."

"...This must be sweet, sweet medicine!..."

"...They drummed, drank, sang, danced..."

"...Let us be the proverbs: our lives are short..."

"...they battled with inhaling and exhaling..."

"...Detoxing was up and instructive..."

"...dogged denialists..."

"...Did I know that you are a new reality..."

"...what you get when you mix crap and spectacular..."

"...They danced their despairs away..."

"...Power dodges poverty, pity doesn't pay..."

"...During these turbulent times, salute a nurse!..."

Nature has a way...

"2020, she said, you had better know this..."

"...if you are not here just say 'absent'..."

"...government contracts to cut the unkempt hair of government officials!..."

"...Is there a plausible justification for that appalling level of stooping and descent..."

"...every day she yelled out names, words..."

"...fatherly roles are not chauvinist..."

"...of termites and serpents slithering into the backyard..."

"...the new normal is the abnormal..."

"if ever there was a beautiful brook, then she is the one..."

"...having languished in bondage for forty years..."

"...heavy with rain, they were ready and reckless..."

"...her passion of performing poetry..."

"Honey bird, honey bird, Nkoviyo's honey bird..."

"...rolling, rolling stones from hell..."

"...I got bored with staring out of the window..."

"...a rainbow of nationalities and a kaleidoscope of ethnicities..."

"...He laments over a love ship that carries a crushed friendship..."

"...Think of animated emoji reactions to a post..."

"...In the dark he drifted and strained his eyes..."

"...He looked over his shoulders daily...."

"Living for months without a drop of water..."

"...Ngiyeke kicked him where it hurts..."

"...A sense of justice said to them..."

"...a violation of rights, an exhibition..."

"...you're on your own after a score..."

"...Please beautiful bottom: he pleaded for mercy..."

"...They said he had a rare alertness..."

"... Exactly 7 days before the big day I danced all day long..."

"...the state of the world was a commotion..."

"...a nightclub of famine and fools..."

"...on the wall a painting of a dove..."

"...a year that has not only confused the entire humanity but has also confined it..."

"A coffee culture shines in splendor in Africa..."

"...Let laughter, love, sympathy and hope glow and grow..."

"...a theme of love in the air..."

"...a passion, a prophecy, a muse..."

Short

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

Apocalyptic prose from a prophet of liberation...

And when there is nothing left to impoverish, what then?...

Essay

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

Instruction in the use of sentences can be demonstrated this way...

How shall we learn to see the meaning of the world, the universe around us?

Opinion

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

"...Deception dines with pride and lies and absurdities..."