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 Memorable African Experience

​I feel playful today, Island please provide me
with some water sports. For magnificent dishes
can I please have a fusion of Creole and Chinese
and Indian and European flavour? I will tuck
into seafood whilst listening to Sega music!

I guess mountain trekking wouldn’t be a bad idea.
I promise, I shall go hunting and birdwatching.
My stay here will be characterised by visiting
the luxurious shopping malls and picking up
a souvenir or two. What an African destination!

Sightseeing pleasure is in store for me in the form
of breathtaking horse-racing tracks, mountains, parks
and botanical gardens. This is the turquoise Indian Ocean.
Mauritius, with your year-round sunshine, your white beaches,
your beach parties, your scenery—you make my vacation meaty.

In Search Of Elusive Answers  ​

​leakages were liked and licked by the like-minded
what looms  large now is no longer a legacy but legalities    
 
to appear before the mines committee for gone glittery blackberries
or to dilly-dally, duck and dodge their little man`s minefield of queries?
 
some say the MPs are not dense to ask 15 billion questions    
how did the diamond revenues develop legs and disappear!
 
yet others say summons are not sentences or custodial kisses
seems there is a subtle parliamentary rage over loftiness  
 

​The Bambazonke Syndrome

​

The little history I know about Aunt NakaThembelihle
is that she was a school teacher and an activist of sorts.
She taught both in the urban and rural areas of the country. 
During her active years in education and after retirement
she advocated for the protection and promotion of the youth,
chiefly those infected by AIDS ,or with albinism  ;or the abused.
She used to watch nearly 100% of Highlanders matches in Zim.   

Aunt NakaThembelihle visited us a few days ago, what a lively chat
we had  over a number of issues. Dynamic as ever, she told me how
she used to support her favorite soccer club through its lows  or highs.
What strike me is the fact that she is an old lady who follows what is
happening around the country in particular and the world in general.
A nonagenarian, she still exhibits a measure of smartness in terms
of observational skills in spite of her poor sight and diabetic state.  

Of all the three daughters of my aunty, none is a nurse but she
is disheartened by the government`s recent decision to sack
15 000 nurses for engaging in a strike action. “I`ve always stood
with those in dire straits, in destitution, in distress , those
whose plight  and grievances  are ignored or brushed aside.
I supported the liberation war fighters for the same reason.
Today, I stand in solidarity with the dismissed nurses. Nx !” 

A frequent visitor to the myriad of the country`s public health
bodies, she believes  paralysis has turned them into death traps.
“In the past, do you know that Luveve Clinic had specialists and
all the equipment and drugs you could think of? Now, it’s sad,
big hospitals like Mpilo are devoid of basic drugs! You then
expect nurses and doctors who are underpaid, underequipped
to work as if everything`s fine. That`s clowning. Where`s sanity?”


She said everybody has a right to life and a fair trial, not what
she called the Bambazonke Games which we are being exposed
to on a daily basis. “What do you mean, auntie?” I enquired. 
“I`ve never been a big fan of the Bambazonke mentality. It`s delusional.
It`s a self-serving mentality which falsely assumes that one has a right
to grab everything, anywhere, anyhow. A win-win affair for oneself
without compromises. It breeds a false sense of entitlement and pride.”


We discussed sports again, only this time she was telling me how proud over
the years she has been of the performances and pedigree of the national cricket
team. “Your cousin, Thembelihle who has lived in India and other countries
says when foreigners introduce cricket as a subject for discussion she looks them
 in the eye, and takes them head-on.  Why? It`s one of the few sports in which
we`ve made a name for ourselves. On that note, I stand with Health Streak. I smell
a scapegoating hand of the Bambazonke syndrome .Hope cricket won`t be the loser”.      

Right In The Kitchen
 

Pests
pestering people
 
Peace-wrecking
peeping into sparkly plates
 
Pretending to be smart
piddling around foodstuff
 
Poor little irritants  
pissing on people`s pride

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