The fiery winds whistled
As another fateful dawn
Materialized in the east
And the east was red!

Silhouettes danced in the shadows
And the bullets swished and sang
A macabre melody to celebrate a ****
With mirthless abandon

But you came out unscathed
Your time had not come
You’d live to tell the tale
And ask the questions of the times

i hear the sound of a voice
a voice true and enigmatic
and in its magical presence
comes visions of beach and sun
sand, foam and jumping fish
palm trees laden with fruit
and ancient canoes battling
waves all through the night
oftentimes i hear that voice
carrying my name on breezes
and showing me where i go
as the days roll into the future
and i look back and linger
wondering who's to be pitied
and who in the end envied
that voice is like an auditor's
wanting to know why and why
these many columns remain full
and how come my fun account
remains solid and untouched
that voice, life's inner throb
makes me sore unfulfilled

my house
               my car
                         my children
                                            my furniture
                                                                my laptop
                                                                               and so on
How about
these are the companions and the comforts that life gives
in its wisdom and from its bounty
and verily my sojourn on earth
is dripping with possibilities

poet that i am
i shall be gone
only a little while
then shall my words
jump off the page
in a felicitous chant
that speaks a new truth
that i was never too far away
from the minds of the  human race
and the fluttering hearts of the world
i was never really gone though interred
poets live forever in their breathing words
that ride the winds across the years into new epochs
in new millenniums where a poet's words shall be gold indeed

glassy tears accentuate a wan smile
limp hand mirrors diminished vitality
as young flesh begins to shrink
consumed by the growling dogs of war

a comrade at arms does his best to stay calm
she looks at him as her bowels slide to the ground
from a stomach ripped open by cluster bombs
and asks him: will i be able to make it comrade
is this not the last sunset that i see with these eyes of mine

the sound of his incantations
hung like a fertile cloud in the air
till it became locked in an embrace
with the holy smell of incense bare
and all the while he droned on steadily
like a distant engine upon an incline
the birds of the night spun around him
crazy like a moth willing death to come
the hot wax stuck like glue on his fingernails
as the passion heated up and blew a blast
in the direction of mirthless unseen onlookers
witnesses to a macabre rite in the dead of night
the time for forging ties that bind was well nigh
for what better instrument to weld togetherness
than a grim kind of secrecy in the  dead wilderness

it was for me a glum and dark world
until I discovered the perfect antidote
deep raucous laughter from the heart
the creases on my face disappeared
and I was soft and smooth like a baby
when they took me off the mad island
I could laugh a fine sophisticated laugh
or do a coarse sarcastic cackle that jarred
against the aesthetic ring of affluence
so richly abundant in those emulating glee
they didn't know that i had stumbled upon
laughter when I needed something to do
In a world defined by magnificent loitering

after  the showers had stopped
we rushed out our hands cupped
to receive stray drops of sky water
then the games would begin in earnest
run,splash and laugh in the puddles
paper boat races on the meandering rivulets
we rolled in the mud and waited for the inevitable
mother screamed her head off about mud, dirt and disease
then like a chorus of cherubim we broke into happy songs
rain, rain stop! come another day; rain, rain fall again
we want your gift of pumpkins and watermelons
and though we knew it not we had stumbled on paradox
these are the things we used to do in our younger days

day cold as indifference
needing warmest apparel
booming business at coffee houses
long-forgotten thick coats out one more time
but see this steely stranger
barefoot like Sage Mutabaruka
and ******* clad in this rabid weather
smile like summer sunshine on a tropical beach
wants nothing and asks for nothing
his warmth is inside
where passions are generated
hypothermia has no chance with him

nothing is new in this old world
though everything is indeed new

we experience what others have
but never get a sense of deja vu

we are new to everything as it is to us

Of all known phenomena
Birth is the most wondrous
And the most miraculous
In the assortment of life’s stunners
So you always are a miracle
One readily celebrated each year
As the sparkle of your smile
Dazzles the world
Like sunshine after a dark tunnel
And the fire in your eyes is a smelter
To melt iced hearts and smelt rock faces
So dance maestro dance
And never once forget the choreography
Of the poetry in your fervent heart
Where hopes and dreams are a lovely duet
Happy birthday mover of the spirit
You who creates joy in moments of magic
When configurations of rainbow futures coax your heart
To beat intricate rhythms from life’s score sheet
Happy birthday to you, child from eternal vistas
Let your dreams carry you forward to fruition
Till life is oozing and dripping with honeyed dew
And each early morning walk is capped with shower bliss
And that promise of tomorrow and the day after the feat
Of never giving up on the business of living, no matter what
Happy birthday  to you; you of stardust and moon glow

grilled stamina spiced with arrogance
marinated egos in bitter gall source
a touch of pickled common pride
a suggestion of mashed personality
served generously with indifference
on a platter of wonderful ignominy
going like hot cakes in these sad days
of lies emblazoned against night skies
hurry my man while stocks last
and before the merchants of doom
begin their desperate auctions of ethics
done with cynical glee and callousness
held together by a spread of mediocrity

words quite often lie
but actions are mostly true
now let me this trend defy
though i have no clue
how to start a new fad
i have soiled my purity
with this accursed oddity
in me that assails my schemes
and now i pay the sore price
of fixations and obsessions
so hard the comeuppance

it was a bitter day, early morning
and he'd just come out of moaning
the day after the weepy mourning
occasioned by a rather soft dismissal
of his peculiarly bad circumstances
leading to that unexpected acquittal
in the courts of street common sense
where they said he was not aggrieved
that he was too well-groomed to qualify
for the title of most distinguished destitute
and that he'd never been guilty of being adrift
and the bitter tears welled in his smarting eyes
he rather liked the elevated status of depraved excellency

your words are like soft pattering rain
falling upon multiple consciences
on the day after nasty weather
and the predicted heat wave

your words drip from invisible funnels
and sweeten the air that we breathe
verily  verily you're the voice of doom
lulling our beings into a deep slumber

there will be pangs and passions galore
in this world of moneyed automatons
who smack their pale but avaricious lips
that spew stale drivel from dead hearts

lo and behold the bell tolls indeed
and we stagger forth in compliant unison
and wait for the confessions of the age
words about how we slid into turmoil

swallowed in an abyss of sticky froth in bubbles
and a cacophony of dismal largo choruses
that say it's time for another thorough round-up
as the skies darken and the rain comes down in sheets

forever a curse and a blessing unavoidably certain
so friend and brother from another place and another time
let's do this thing together and crush this flea that won't flee
generous givers are beckoning frantically from the horizon

talk to me directly, **** you
look me in the face and see me
see me smile an authentic smile
talk to me directly,**** you
you have a silent wall around you
your gripping app has you enthralled
everything you do is choreographed
and you get your kicks from the selfies
you're at sea when it comes to real humans
warm, tender and wanting your attention
real people with brittle hearts that break
real people that you cannot programme
for there are no icons for such phenomena
so look at me and talk to me, **** you
lest we get lost in a world gone mechanical

in and out of my waking moments
drifts this flirtatious apparition
the ghost of a smile on a broken face
i feel the sanctity of my shores breached
by this stranger on my bewildered shore
the sometimes leering face is like a cloud
hovering above me only in a thick crowd
this stranger on my mystified sandy shore
forever tempting my imagination with glee

perfect poise
between diction
imagery and tone
measured rhythms
and true fine feelings
that fall like soft rain
to mirror humans
in tender moments
and coarse grim cameos
of things best forgotten
things nuanced and bitter
this vast field of experience
is the business of poetry
the art of aptness
the art of compactness
and incredible depths
leading to damp squibs
we search nevertheless
for unique form and content
that exercise in futility
till at last we rest from our labours
and we understand at last
poetry like life is a bitter-sweet  illusion

this is where you find us
with our bits of paraphernalia
and our shredded hopes
reclining upon our mad fantasies
this is where you find us
on our windswept bits of  concrete floor
hoping against hope to one day be loud and rich
our affluent mouths enriched with aromatic cigars
this is where you find us,
our women ravaged by the wind
and our children taking whatever we give them
from heaps of misfortune
festering like putrid wounds
on forgotten bits of terrain
along cursed routes that lead to where it all stops
this is where you find us
with our broken teeth and our losses
with our jaded dreams and our hallucinations
this is where you find us, we the deluded many
who were foolish enough to imagine a community
glued by common bonds of former oppression

hush little brother mine
huff and puff no more
mother is at the open fire
little brother of mine
she's cooking your dish
the one that makes you drool
and the dogs keep watch outside
so eat dear little brother of mine
eat your fill and fill in those hollows
eat little brother of mine, eat
till your tiny plate is shining clean
and mother thinks it is all right
getting smoke in her eyes for you

Child of my child, you for whom I lived this long ...
I shall be gone, yet be with you still, especially when times are rough
I shall be your mentor and your prompt under the eaves
As you whisper husky sweet-nothings into her waiting ear
Child of my child, remember these things when they lay me down
In that soft coffin so inviting one could die over and over again
Just to lie in state in it and be the star attraction one more time
I shall  lie there with a still gaze into distances you can't see
And I shall look prettier than a picture in an old storybook
Those given to weeping shall weep themselves sick but in vain
For I will neither move nor be moved on this my special day
And only you will feel my fleeting smile in that enigmatic moment
When you get to know that life is always nigh and never really gone
I shall be relaxed and pretty though dead and you will know then
Why your grandfather brought me into his home to create happiness
So, child of my child, walk softly into the future that must come
The present bears you aloft on wings fuelled by receding past times
And as blinking stars beckon to ocean waves lapping the shores
Live your life as you'd wish to and as I might recommend
Let life's cloistered mysteries softly unravel before your eyes
And carry the pictures that you see in the shelves of your memory
Sometimes to peruse and smile when a memory comes floating in

We go one way
Time goes the other
Patience is a myth
In your merry youth
We rush to the zenith of our folly
and so quicken our demise
Time goes its way and cares not what you do
And try as you might
You never can catch up
And you never can evade its ravages
These spindly legs
Once carried a proud athlete
These tired old legs
Were the pride of a queen of the ramp
But now alas, time has played an ace
and won the race
Time goes its way
And we go where we are bound

and the moon wraps me in its dust
a cold dust that freezes my sore skin
as the stars twinkle in a warm vigil
over my yearning body ablaze with
the fire of quests still to be satisfied
together the moon and the stars brew
a romance in bloom like wild flowers
starring the open fields with colour
the old moon weeps cheerless songs
    melodies never before heard
by untutored human ears
or played by arthritic fingers
in search of a miraculous cure
as acidic woes from dim pasts and distances **** nascent dreams
stranger than the quirkiest fictional tales
is the story of cold moons in tropical skies
nevertheless i shall lean forever towards that dream
whose promise is a pale shadow of reality

this is the cap that poor jerry wore
the day that he beat the big drum
until his palms were so very sore
in the heat of the dance in the dust
now he sits still and takes it all in
saved from soiling his cap with sweat

this is where it was always leading
this parting of the ways, this fleeing
from the sore shots of life's arrows
it was always coming, this pulling
asunder in the glow of a last twilight
so fare thee well my friend and foe
you who slew my hopes and dreams
and made sure there were no streams
to cool my burning soul and quench
this horrible thirst that still persists
i hunger for the warmth you exuded
and thirst for that temperate streak in you,
a virtue now so rare and dear in this world
most are well-schooled in shameless artifice
so here now i sit in this elevated oblivion
watching you melt into the unkind distance
fare thee well, my spring and my nemesis
i shall in time learn to want nothing gone

i see you
in the magnificence of your aura
and in your splendour
a supple aesthetic comma
with cupped hands
i see you
scoop up the water and let it trickle through your fingers
even as the weaver birds chatter ceaselessly outside
i see you
in that magical moment, a rainbow on your *****
as the fine rose sprays your body with resplendent water
in a wondrous fusion of sun, water and glowing inner warmth
i see you
break into a lyrical smile brimming with beauty and belief
and i think to myself
you're the story still to be conceived
the epic poem in heroic couplets in the making
you're the holy grail men have sought in their pilgrimages
i shall create a chant and a mantra in your honour
even as your person and your image vanquish me
and that's what love is
you're consumed by your mate in the fashion of the black widow
a ravenous spider that eats love

neither your helipad nor your limos
neither your huge country mansion
nor the famed cellar of vintage wines
in your basement world of wonders
neither your wild and loud wardrobe
nor your collection of fancy silk ties
when it matters most in this world
can make any real difference for us
in our assigned bits of rugged terrain
your fabulous diamonds and rubies
and your green emeralds and pearls
are no more than mere shiny trinkets
before the warmth and camaraderie
exuded by those who still can smile
and still can laugh a deep hearty laugh
in this world of sordid corporations
shady conglomerates and mega deals
you had better be on the lookout for
smooth operators and suave conmen
with fads, facts and figures to sway you
these are the hyenas of today's world
and they will always dissemble if it pays

smog
has assailed tropical havens
nostalgic weeping

i am a sorry sight for sure
heading for the grim shore
carrying nothing to show
for all my pain and labours
just a tiny frown on her brow
and i'm reduced to a wreck
just the suggestion of a smile
and i'm in heaven, that fabled
place of purest joy and ecstasy
she plays me like a kora, ethnic
and magical in its call and timbre
and i respond like a typical disciple
and say it is well even when i suffer loss

when he spoke
his voice was the sound of tomorrow
and his words were sweet and enigmatic
taking you to the fields and the forests
to the sound of the go-away bird
and the apocalyptic ground horn-bill
when he spoke
he was not  so small a boy
his was alive with things no one understood
and made you feel it would all go well
even as the storms gathered and there was a swell
of fervour, mysticism and gallant conviction
that sent the sons of mothers to their many deaths
his name was freedom
liberty today and tomorrow the moon!
the cry rang out everywhere with electric effect
and there was no need for the double-speak of diplomacy
or the hollow-sounding epithets of hair-splitting academics
freedom spoke for himself

so tantalizing
the whiffs from the kitchen
an omelette of freshly-laid eggs
home-grown onions and tomatoes
and a touch of spice to thrill my tongue
as i chew the goodness of the mushrooms
so enriching
jazz as a soundtrack for the first meal of the day
cooked over an open wood fire after sunrise
the blue sky is a huge canvas
on which the rising smoke etches multiple shapes
that dance and dissipate as a whispering breeze passes by
here our sweat is the appetizer for the natural goodness
of the rich and abundant foods in our organic garden

His gold-capped teeth
Lost their glitz and glamour
When the peasant boy smiled
A sun-filled smile whitened by his warmth
I knew then that real value is easy and natural

i will come to you
rich only thus ...
skewered by the troubles of my unfulfilled dreams
irked by my  agrieved imagination
battered by the blows of relentless misfortune
famished by the constant fare of hope and fantasy
driven on by conceit and a crying ego
and that ever fading dream of getting rich and famous
being adored by a queen like you
and flourishing on generous dividends
from long-suffering social and financial investments
i will come to you
like an off-key air that you must moderate
like a breath of ill-wind that you must transform
into a melody of love

your coming in with the rising sun
in soft morning light and glistening dew
made me think life could be  a huge smile
and that nothing about you could be a trifle

conversation with you was like lyrical poetry
full of measured tones and profound emotion
words are wholesome food when one is enamoured
you sip their oozing nectar at every sugary pause

your voice was like a heavenly harp magically played
by expert fingers dancing to an inspired melody
that only i and they could hear, and cherish like a dream
thus see me now with my face still ravaged by possibilities

but alas, you decided to take your leave with the dying day
and i knew my bewilderment would last the stretch of eternity
you walked away into the twilight and never once looked back
those who go away with the setting sun do not always rise with it

i'm checkmate the bomb
i always make things a gas girl
i'm ubiquitous and unavoidable
i'm a social engineer,
making things happen for good time girls
i'm the promo man
i advertise curvaceous wares
and multiply the client base
i'm hoping to go exponential soon
I'm a moneyfinder par excellence
i can sniff it from miles away
and i know how to make a fool and his money
go separate ways
as for the miserly ones, we prise it away so adeptly
they can't help applauding us
the rich and affluent ones looking for an experience -
we cater for them as well
they're easy to spot from miles away
that bored vacuous look is hard to miss
i'm a connoisseur of bohemian girls:
the ones who play sweet and innocent to perection
their jumping eyes can send even you into a rhapsodic spin!
the leggy ones with shape and hips
delectable girls with unbelievable curves
the slim portable women that some want to take away
mmmm... and the buxom ones with bountiful chests of sweetness
i can supply extras too! just name it and i'm your man
i'm the paymaster and the insurance man to book
i'm security too, my boys don't brook any nonsense - be warned!
and hey man, do i have style! tailor-made suits, gold-capped teeth,
handmade shoes and handwoven ties to complete the rout
my principles are strict and regular; no sampling of the stock
although...
if it's sylvie i sometimes make an exception
sylvie knows how to rock and how to roll
she's what every man hopes to find during his prime*
now don't you dare go all weepy and disapproving on me mate,
it's not personal - just business!

che turns in his grave
and lumumba sheds a tear
to think of the things they're doing
these absurd modern types
rebels without a cause
freedom fighters with no clue
what it's all about or the reason
to forego all luxury
till your colours flutter in the wind
meanwhile all you can do is
dream about pizza on a neon-lit evening
a girl sitting on your lap
a nonchalant scowl on your face
and the inevitable fizzy a-bubbling
this man who has never been oppressed
spots a mane of hair done like samson's
seeing my interest he puts a business card on the table:
freedom fighter, the card says
how different today's struggles are!

wherever i find myself is my home
so don't hit me with vagrancy laws
wherever I spend the night is home
home this day and the next perhaps?
let the grass shelter me
and let the dew on its blades quench my thirst
the syrup from the funnels of the flowers
sweetens my hitherto dull and predictable life
I'm so richly blest
hate no one
hurt no one
I want so little and need much less
it's everybody's world
though some may want to be grasping

appetizing and delicious
wholesome and nutritious
enchanting and appealing
rich, tasty and unforgettable
is the simplest of shared fare
when taken with comrades
in the lull before the storm
when surreptitious glances
could be the last for some
and memories the testimony
to life's ambivalent transience
farewell comrades in love
to you belongs the glory
of mistaken ideas and inertia
and we who fizzled out long ago
salute you the lucky beneficiaries
of our pain and sorrow that are
your surfeit and your happiness

the fine essence of her ethereal being
oft times floated and wafted into the air
then would the music in her truly ring
with the poise and peace making it so fair
to hanker after the lasting and lusting hues
of the demented pleasures of abandonment
thus did i feel the dent from her covert teasing
she was soft and mellifluous like richest cream
and her walk was like a choreography to the hidden notes
of a musical profusion of poignant melodies and a rich pulse
deep in my lulled consciousness i knew for certain
she was the source of my beckoning dreams in technicolour
the sin that i didn't commit lest her purity  be forever soiled
she was the sweet walker in whom nestled my wildest fancies

this is a poem for all children
and for the child in the adult
those of us who stll can stare
in wide-eyed wonder, and lust
for life; giggle some, and laugh
just a little when life tickles us
this poem is for you and us:
                       so
smile sweet baby smile
giggle sweet baby giggle
and laugh sweet baby laugh
let your dimples enchant the world
let the dribble of your drooling gums
wrap the dead hearts of skeptics
in a theme of rainbows and waterfalls
         crawl baby crawl
         and scream baby scream
         a seizure is ecstasy in blue

look no more for things novel
search no more for the spectacular
and stop once and for all being particular

be mesmerized no more by things instantaneous
neither be amazed nor bamboozled by things human
for in all such cases no immutable laws are ever broken

here we come now with one new phenomenal law of the universe
and verily my muse bids me tell you that everything is a miracle:
happily going into near-suspended animation
as you go into a deep sleep
the rhythm of your walk
as you go down the aisle
to embrace your destiny
being skinned alive and dissected
then sewn back together again
these are the unsung miracles of our times
radio
        television
                        the phone
                                        the mobile
                                                        th­e internet
and this thing called love

        everything is a miracle!