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March 25, 2024

From Hogwash to Mouthwash

By Ndaba Sibanda

From Hogwash to Mouthwash

she was a lady who shared a great fellowship
that nurtured her as an activist and an educationist

at first she embodied a spirit of softness and politeness
later her activism epitomised an ethos of civil disobedience

she delivered speeches that eulogised woman freedom stalwarts
like Queen Anna Nzinga of Ndongo, Winnie Mandela and Rosa Parks

is Rosa Parks not a heroine because she was tired of giving in?
she would ask rhetorically about the modern-day civil rightist

even days after the broadcast, she couldn't swallow it --
the bitterness of the verdicts, of the votes, of the statistics

every day she yelled out names, words: boobs, badass, Bobs --
legacy, cancer, cholera, cruelty, crippling chaos, social chasm, curse!!

I heard people plead with her, confessing they too were tired of the nonsense
she told them: shift from that kind of shit to grit, from hogwash to mouthwash!






Article © Ndaba Sibanda. All rights reserved.
Published on 2018-12-31
Image(s) are public domain.
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