a collection of poems written on the same subject

hear no evil, see no evil

cold and desolate at home
no fire in the hearth
just the chocking ashes
the demented parents
children fleeing from home
the very best of our minds
boosting and boosting your fortunes
blinding you to the crisis
the neighbour's house on fire
yours too may be to the ground razed
advocate of african renaissance
listen to the teachings of african philosophers

to an african renaissance advocate

no wonder they kicked you in the butt
then i had not understood your bungling
did not know of such shocking buffoonery
the vampire sucking our precious blood
building your economy on our suffering
draining our home of the future
the vibrancy of our youths sucked dry
the farms prosper on our cheap labour
nothing to show for the gold, diamonds,platinum
just broken backs, chapped hands and tb
our youths turned into food for the crocodiles
the insatiable limpopo swallows our future
in your dictionary or thesaurus this is no crisis
the poor man's hell is the rich man's heaven
the pages of history will reveal your villainy
your narrow mindedness will be plain to see
deep down into the trash can of history
that is where you firmly belong

absence of conscience

our people shall never forget
the baffling buffonery you exhibited
the hour demanded men and women of conscience
yet you wined and dined with the devil
blinded by your warped pan africanism
that condones black on black violence
condoning that to spite the west
that shocking shallowness of thought

our people shall never forget
your pipe smoking befuddled mind
the whisky fumes in your mind
the crazy word games you played
condemning the future of our nation
your name shall be synonymous with hypocrisy
you shall be a subject of ridicule
for you we shall forge a breast plate
'dim wit' shall read the inscription

dishonest broker

even among your people
forever your name will be soiled
stoutly refusing to stand by them
stubbornly refusing to help their kith and kin
those daily playing hide and seek
running away from daily deportations
a subject of debate you shall be
in the university lecture theatres
in the faculty corridors
in the bars, streets, everywhere
did you get a platinum mine
perhaps vast tracts of arable land
the manna like diamonds perhaps
like a sore thumb it shall stick out
the truth we shall soon know

DWARFS

Propagandists at it
Weaving their evil webs
Trying to capture our minds
Our skeletons on the outside
Repelling the protracted assaults
The people march on
See the short memories
That stolen revolution
Now back to haunt them
The dwarf lives of lies
Bayonetted by the truth
Cunning opportunists kicked
Kicked into the trash can of shame
The wretched miscreants
Self seeking disciples of Narcissus
Lessons abound in history
That will cannot be held back

TO THE WORLD

this blazing fire gobbles our home
the children wail with no end in sight
the parents die of despondency
our lives have been reduced to rubble
you sit in your ivory towers
all you do is dabble in cheap talk
you drink coffee and tea while we die
sadc where is the good neighbourliness
the un where is the lightning behind the thunder
the au where are you in this scheme
how long shall we be in the wilderness
how long should evil triumph
how long shall you be indifferent
how long shall this primeval beast hold sway
maybe the answer lies in divine inspiration

ANSWERING A QUESTION

Dambudzo Marechera through one of his characters once asked,'Why is it that every revolution results in the alienation of its artists?'

Today I try to answer that question by stating that it is not really correct that the revolution results in the alienation of its artists.

What I have observed is that most revolutions are hijacked by very well schooled cunning opportunists.These are the wolves in sheep skins.Look around and you will see them.Listen carefully and you will hear them.The opportunists masquerade as the true revolutionaries.They have all the revolutionary talk but their actions show otherwise.Bob Marley would sing,'Talk is cheap.'

When the opportunists take over they trash the revolutionary artists.The revolutionary artists become anathema to the new scheme of wickedness .That is on the one hand.On the other hand there is the deliberate and concerted promotion of a wave of mediocrity in the form of artists[opportunists] who sing praises to the opportunist class of rulers!

Dambudzo Marechera I rest my case and I hope that I have answered your question.

WITCHES AND WIZARDS AT IT

waves of anxiety
relentlessly pummelling our minds
quicksand of despondency
threatening our hope
giant waves of anxiety
tightly gripping this nation
the looming abyss avert
the ominous personality cult
there is a price to be paid
reason knocked loudly
there was no welcome at all
together diffuse this bomb
these spirits yearn for freedom

books that i have been reading over the past few months

over the past few months i have been reading the following books:'angela's ashes 'and the sequel' 'tis ' both by frank mccourt.also i have been reading ' we never make mistakes' by alexander solzhenitsyn.i have also read for the umpteenth time 'of mice and men' by john steinbeck.

the work by frank mccourt rings a bell.the work reminds me of my own upbringing in the colonial style township of ascot , gweru,zimbabwe.with others like me in this poverty stricken ghetto we had to struggle against all odds just like mccourt did.it was not easy.it still is not easy.i do not need your sympathy!i am telling it like it is.



i have always had a fascination when it comes to the works by the russians.it is against that background that i have read some of the works by nikolai gogol and fyodor dostoyevsky.



the two stories that make up 'we never make mistakes' paint the picture of what was happening in the russia of old when there was war.maybe at some stage i should do a review of the stories referred to.



'of mice and men' by john steinbeck is a story which leaves one with mixed feelings when george shoots lennie to [per my view] take him out of his misery.



in the story lennie is all brawn and george is the brain that controls this automaton.need i say more.i think i have whet your appetite!i hope someone will get to make a movie out of john steinbeck' story[if noone has done so already!']

CERTAINTY

The sun will set
Dawn will sprout
Birds will twitter
The cocks will crow
Each one to his or her chores
That is how it is
That is how it should be
The children will play
On the road to the future

READY TO SACRIFICE

the rats scurry for cover
the menace is around

that cat growing fat
none prepared to sacrifice

the hyena devouring the goats
the vilagers quivering

not one ready for confrontation
cowards behind closed doors hiding