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NDABA SIBANDA - POEMS

2/13/2020

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Ndaba`s poems have been widely anthologised . Sibanda is the author of The Gushungo Way, Sleeping Rivers, Love O’clock, The Dead Must Be Sobbing, Football of Fools, Cutting-edge Cache: Unsympathetic Untruth, Of the Saliva and the Tongue, When Inspiration Sings In Silence and Poetry Pharmacy. His work is featured in The Anthology House, in The New Shoots Anthology, and in The Van Gogh Anthology, and A Worldwide Anthology of One Hundred Poetic Intersections. Some of Ndaba`s works are found or forthcoming in  Page & Spine,  Peeking Cat, Piker Press , SCARLET LEAF REVIEW , Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the Pangolin Review, Kalahari Review and Botsotso. 

Ruthless Ruin ​

​There was
A menace. 
A genocidist. 
A gukurahundist.
A wrecker of life itself. 
He possessed oppression. 
Brutality. Immunity. Iniquity. 
A real wrecker of a rich nation.
Intolerant of those who dared 
To challenge his oppressive style
Of leadership, his life of deception.
What a life and a foul lie he lived.
His legacy is not only a disgrace 
But also a wreck and a hellhole. 
Dissent he couldn’t stomach. No.      
High was his heartlessness. Ego.
It knew no apologies but orgies.  
For all his vile,selfish decisions--
His failures, his sellout  actions 
He had scapegoats,sycophants  
There was shamelessness in it
In his blame game: be it critics,
The opposition or the West or all
Sadly some fell victim to his foolery 
He was a cunning and cruel tragedy.  
Never frank. No. Ever power-hungry. 
He sang of unity as a phony unifier.
He was no panAfricanist. Not at all.
He was a schemer and a divisionist.  
The history books must be exorcised 
Of lies and dishonesties otherwise history
Will not only judge a bunch of pretenders 
And confusionists and denialists severely 
But as facts` rapists and insensitive loyalists
Who ignore the reality of shallow mass graves
Whose orphaned tears continue to seek justice.   

​Disowned Long Long Back

​The destructive justice evader
And demented deceiver 
Was NOT my leader!
So much for his fever!  

For I have no relationship
Whatsoever with dictatorship 
Masquerading as stewardship!  
Author of hardship & censorship! 

 Sleaze and decay was his authorship
Misrule saw a floundering,capsizing ship 
Yes men, sycophants formed his discipleship
What was missing in his ways was statesmanship

​Mlobikazi Of Mzilikazi Along Vithikazi

​Few people knew she had lived in Soweto
Not only had she resided in that township
Of the city of Jo'burg,Mlobikazi of Mzilikazi
Had lived in the core of greatness on Vilakazi 
Street, for Soweto is historic by virtue of heroic
Struggles against apartheid that ensued there

There was Mlobikazi from Bulawayo's Mzilikazi
Suburb with a painting that told of a great story--
Titled Vilakazi, the pretty princess from Mzilikazi
Not only exhibited the literary artistry of Dr Vilakazi
It also captured how Vilakazi  is the only street
In the world where two Nobel Laureates once lived


Perseverance, painting, passion, her mantra
None could see, hear ,smell, taste or touch it
A breakthrough, a beauty's brilliance and dance
Mlobikazi of Mzilikazi lived on Vithikazi Street
Mlobikazi of Mzilikazi had an awesome  passion
Her loyalty to her profession paid off  in profusion
And precision when her painting proudly propelled her  
Into prominence:they crowned her a prizewinning painter
A sea of attendees ,her mates, all they could see  was glee!


​An Orgy Of Bondage And Plundering

​He had an insatiable hunger for all things
That clanked like capitals and cartels  
He had the disorder of grabbing all--
And a compulsion to cheap labor 
His cluster, his colony and all
Were founded on captivity
Oh Africa, oh dear Africa
You surely don’t want
Or warrant any pain
And a rain of drain
Anymore, anytime 
For an official’s gain  

A  Distinction And A Dance To Life  ​

​I recently watched an inspiring video featuring old chaps,
All men and women dancing in an eye-catching fashion. 

I guess they were gyrating to the music of the 50s or 60s,
What stood out as my eyes feasted on their dance routines

Was the smoothness and elegance of movement, wow!
They twisted and turned with effortless grace and charm! 

Can I dance with such finesse? -- I found myself wondering. 
How does one master such delicate dance moves? I pondered.

Music is not my domain, but let me say it again for our gain--- 
They twisted and turned with effortless grace and charm! 

By any definition or action, I conceded that I was damn no game!  
Their dancing was an outright delight, I was awed, downright too!     

I recalled when one day granddad found me dancing like crazy:
Some modern dance moves and music … I don’t know what to say…

Gone are the good old days, he bemoaned as I halted, breathless.   
Our dancing was artful and delightful and meaningful, he stated.

Now what I see here is artless and directionless clowning (oops!)
Our music was timeless, the lyrics of your music is meaningless!

He grinned warmly for a while, and cuddled me, saying dance on,
You can`t be dancing like you`re boneless if the music isn’t telling!!    

​Cut Down

​They bought lawn mower after lawn mower
as if they had lots of cash or they had grassland  
yet they wanted to bid on government contracts
to cut the unkempt hair of government officials!

They brought razor blade after razor blade 
as if they wanted to cut the long nails of officials
yet all they sought to do was to move from shop
to shop in order to cut down the prices of goods! 
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