NDABA SIBANDA - POEMS

Sibanda is the author of Love O’clock, The Dead Must Be Sobbing and Football of Fools.
Ndaba Sibanda`s work is featured in The New Shoots Anthology, The Van Gogh Anthology edited by Catfish McDaris and Dr. Marc Pietrzykowski, Eternal Snow, A Worldwide Anthology of One Hundred Poetic Intersections with Himalayan Poet Yuyutsu RD Sharma scheduled for publication in Spring/Summer 2017 by Nirala Press and Seeing Beyond the Surface Volume II.

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​A Rude Awakening

Have you ever been on a rollercoaster?
Or ever dreamt of winning a big lottery?
Only to discover that you are actually riding
An elephant without legs, let alone a rump!
Such is reverie, the rear mirror sees no hump. 

​

​As If They Didn’t Know

was our unkind king frog
nocturnal in nature?
they asked when
he had been ferried away
 
he spent most of the day
snoozing in his citadel
hidden amongst gold
and lies and loot
 
was our unkind king frog
gregarious in nature?
they asked when
he was unable to croak
 
he travelled with countless frogs
to many foreign  ponds and lakes
he liked lounging in the exotic
meadows and wetlands too
 
did our unkind king frog
have a sensual soprano voice?
they asked
as if they didn’t know
 
he was active in the evenings
and at night :inflating his throat
pouch about the urgent need
to protect our lakes and ponds                                                                                                                                  
 
did our unkind king frog
protect our lakes and ponds?
they asked
as if they didn’t know

​Inside

She wanted to uncover
and discover something
 
about him. She pursued
to x-ray the very  person
 
inside him. The person
outside was easy to stroke
 
and rub itchiness on his body
He was no saint but a soft ram
 
Sometimes she rubbed roughness
on that ram. His frown was far or faint
 
Still she wasn’t sure of the one
inside him. Was he easy to rub?
 
Or was he too corrosive to graze?
She wanted to know, but how?  ​

​Roar Into Life

it`s better to give us a plate
full of fried bitterness than
too much sugar because
that causes fat droplets!
 
it was as if I were listening
to a team of tough-talking
health and fitness experts
but those were editors!   
 
they ranted: speak rawness
into the truth about life
stretch our capacity
for compassion
 
test our understanding
enter the heart of what
we cherish or cheapen
and interrogate it madly
 
I knew then that the narrative
was never going to be a sleep-
inducing affair anymore
but a wake-up call
 ​

​Oh My Foot!

That day they loved the lesson
That time too they laughed
 
A laugher that seemed to rip
Apart their ribs and red lips
 
They talked about types
Of transport one could
 
Think of or use in one`s
city or country or county
 
Many many modes of transport
Were mimicked and mentioned:
 
On water some learners had a boat
On rails others had a train in the rain
 
They nailed compound nouns
Like bus fare big big time
 
On four wheels was a VW
On two one group had footron!
  
The teacher sought to bare
The meaning of footron
An obvious new coinage
One student said on foot! ​

​Wondering about Nocturnal Wanderings

they say he was pollinated by mad moths
polluted by pride and pretensions
he lived a life of bats and owls
his flowers followed a pattern
of opening during the night
and closing at daylight 
​