NDABA SIBANDA - CHASED AWAY BY DRUNKENNESS - POEMS

Ndaba Sibanda`s work has been featured in several publications including The Piker Press, Bricolage, The Dying Goose, Whispering Prairie Press, Saraba  Jim, Outside In Literary & Travel Magazine ,The Metric, Unlikely Stories and Silver Birch Press.

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                                 Of Policies And Capacities 
 

this economy has whiskey
how can it be so drunk and risky?
 
the poor say the prognosis is easy
for this rich nation has a terrible leprosy 
 
which kicks out citizens of the country
at times to places very far and  wintry
 
to become wandering birds without feathers
or troubled refugees and unsung beggars
 
termites and maggots of corruption
and governance constitute its destruction
 
police please arrest someone willy-nilly 
for intoxicating this economy silly 
 
policies please be competitive 
for the businesspeople are restive
 
the national currency disappeared
it could no longer stand being speared
 
 
there is need for industrial production
as much as there is noise about indigenisation 
 
no direct investment as the economy is very weak 
the country`s prospects of economic recovery are bleak
 
a show of lack of confidence in the leadership and its policies
returns on investment against declining mental and physical capacities
 
 
 
                              A Deep Engagement
 
 

Why do you laze in bed
instead of going out
and making big money?
 
Dude, your name is Judge,
he responds in a voice
that worries the questioner
 
 
It is a steady voice
filled with greater
honesty than hostility
 
He explains that money
is not a soul’s everything
but a means to something
 
He says alone in his room
he gobbles poetry that engages
with his deepest truths and joys
 
 
  
                                  Malleable Prospect
 

let us reminisce
and romance
 
let us rekindle
those fires
 
of yesteryear
of heart and heat
 
let us boldly board
a recollection bus
 
of positive events
of past actions
 
let us live ‘n love
in the present
 
no matter
how different
 
because it is all
we can correct
 
 
and curve
into our future
 
  
 
                                     One Too Many Losses
 

what has come over them?
they have disregarded
the sanctity of life
you say maybe by virtue
of misjudgment?
 
what has blinded them?
they have authored an orgy
of uncertainties and murders
who are they are policing
by planting seeds of mistrust?
  
 
are these umpteen miscarriages
of justice blind to the fact
that prejudice breeds
nothing else
but jaundice?
 
 
 
                             The Leopard Man`s Fate
 


the man riding an abused leopard
feared that if ever he fell down
the animal would chew him up
so he clung on and on to it
 
he was weary and desperate
he knew the leopard was tired
it ate depravation and beatings
he feared being disinherited
 
but the moment of truth
was always approaching
and reproaching him
to repent and leave
the poor animal alone
 
he okayed himself
he clung on and on
until sleepiness
and tiredness
teamed up
to a thud!
 
 
                                                Errant Cat
 


Upon catching the cat out
Madly mewing and lapping
On the stolen milk in an exotic jar
Do you lunge for the misguided cat?
Is there a catharsis in strangling it wildly?
Would you lose your mind and sleep over it?
 
  
 
                              House Number 12 Foot Street
 

With the informer`s tiny paper
In hand she wondered whether
It was a good idea to prove it all
She recalled the adage that says:
If one climbs up some mountain
In search of baboons one should
Not be shell-shocked to see them
She walked along the winding path
As if she had accepted its bends and gall
When she arrived at House Number 12 FS
She stormed into the kitchen and then bedroom
There he was ...having some little delicious breakfast
It galled her to see that the snatcher was below her class
Lost for words…a fearless fire consumed her heart and head
 
 
 
                     Bring Back Our History And Heritage
 
You have muddied the waters of
         Our glorious history and heritage
Where shall we hide our long tails?
Our nakedness is now a public feast