I had a sleep in Saturday morning,
till I decided to go outside at noon,
walked to shop rite,
got some telekom talk time,
and strolled to the park off main road,
guitar in my right hand,
adidas backpack,
first sat on a bench but strayed from the heat,
to a spot of shade and squatted,
I began to lament as I strummed the acoustic.
Everyone around the park quietly perched,
a child came by with her mother as they played by the ground ,
then some boys came around to kick it,
it was time to leave.
I walked north to another park I knew,
I still found activity.
An old lady in a wheelchair,
some parents and their children,
some people with their dogs,
all enjoying the little enclosure.
I skipped that section and walked into the wide expanse of gleaming green grass,
unaffected by the long drought,
there was a little bench facing the enclosure,
that's where I sat.
As soon as I sat down,
she came running to me,
her father following suit,
understandably so,
she paused and smiled at me as I unraveled my caraya,
she said, 'what's that?'
Her dad with his cool 'rock' t-shirt said it's a guitar,
she repeated,
pronouncing it in an odd way,
I asked him if he played and he said no,
to my subconscious surprise,
he additionally had long black hair which added to his rockstar vibe,
she suddenly stretched out her hand and plucked the 3rd or 4th,
as her dad gave her a slight rebuke and told her to follow him,
he said she's his only one,
I waved goodbye.
I could see a blonde haired lady,
watching from the enclosure,
slightly apprehensive,
her mother perhaps,
she eventually left after the trio sat diagonally facing me,
just playing the same chords I've known for so long,
feeling as though I'd been stuck in a stagnant cycle,
birthing nothing more,
menopause.
She raced towards me again,
this time her dad simply watched,
she just stood around as I played,
almost enchanted by the sound,
I partially flabbergasted,
sure this muzungu has never seen a guitar?
She ran back to her apparent guardians.
A few minutes later she raced back,
surprisingly quick,
her hair was bouncing and her packet of mini tennis biscuits shuffled in her hand,
she halted in front of me and stretched out her hand,
I asked her to pick one out for me and I ate it,
she took them and came back with a bottle of water but I told her I was fine,
she had already paid me enough joy.
I wondered if her dad was sending her.
She continued to run around with her dad until they parted east.
She hopped on her pink bicycle as he shepherded behind.
Fading into the distance,
leaving me wondering of I'll ever see her beautiful bright smile and eyes again.
Eva brought life to my day,
more so my existence ,
she showed so much love,
in such little time,
unlike most toddlers,
she gave,
not only that she gave the little she had,
of her menial mini tennis biscuits,
that made a racket in her packet,
and her tiny 350 ml water bottle,
with all of her running,
never even considered my race,
after meeting her I feel like I've seen all the beauty this life can show,
she was a highlight from the Author's book,
it's these things that keep me going,
these things that keep me knowing,
maybe just maybe I haven't blown it,
I hope she turns out to be a fine young madam,
I hope she gets to meet the second Adam.
Eva Saturday love gift
muzungu means white person in Bemba(Zambian language)