They seek re-election by all means possible in spite of the fact that they are worn-out, inept and overpriced pranksters and liabilities. How can I have kind words for those who claim to be in power in Southern Africa yet they plunge their nations into power failures & perpetual poverty? Their mouths & campaigns reek of unfulfilled pledges as if they share ancestry with fibs and roguishness, they have an acrimonious relationship with progress. They fight with every fibre of their being to remain in power so as to plunder and protect the corrupt, for their appetite…
Author: Ndaba Sibanda
A selfless, fearless human rights icon For many a girl child, she is a beacon Considered one of the bravest lawyers in Africa For her courage she has received credit beyond Africa She has borne the brunt of harassment and physical assault A heroine who champions free speech on those who default As a human rights defender, she has given potent violators hell Arrested, detained, barred, Beatrice Mtetwa`s stars shine and swell
A poet’s vision transcends boundaries Of time, distress, despair and devastation, Of pettiness, pretenses and pampered pranks, It carries counsel and clarion calls, It breathes the twins of love and life, Its silence can be loud, always sound, Its loudness can be silent, always sincere, It carts the orphans’ muted voices and plight, The widows’ ignored fury and fire in a forest, The victims’ spitting of vileness and venom, Of brooks whose banks are breaking down, Overt or veiled, it should be the voice Of intention and action, of the people As it discerns sincerity from dishonesty, Decency and development…
Field trips play a pivotal role in enriching and broadening the educational experience and the horizon of the students as these events and activities afford learners an opportunity to leave the school grounds for the purposes of curriculum – related study or outdoor education. For education entails exploration. Field visits also provide learners with an opportunity to put their critical thinking and research skills to test. These educational trips are a source of entertainment since they serve as strong motivators and incubators which stir up excitement. Suffice to say that they enable pupils to engage with content in a relaxed,…
This descant is disharmonious and discordant, please can someone decent give us some decency? It isn’t a melody – but an old, cold and odd malady. Dear citizens, which are these munching mouths that have made the headings for the wrong reasons? Madly seasoning and masticating what is uneatable. If direction or decency is lost on the deceitful mouths, if they are alien to reason ,decency and dependability, it means they pay no attention to the dictates of integrity. Dear citizens, which are these barefaced silky sick suits that have made burnt-out banners for the wrong reasons?…
It’s not old news that Methuseli lived remotely close to two neighbors whose unneighborliness was amusing. The two were biologically related in a distant fashion. Then their wives were found missing on their farms, not that they had decided to go to another planet and become resident aliens, but because they had to dig up a well in an almost exactly waterless river. Their faces wore clear confusion since portable water seemed to be nowhere to be found or simply elusive. Legend has it that dryness danced down the river the moment the villagers chased away a mermaid. Certainly, it…
From 6-18 November 2022, the United Nations conference on climate change will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. There is talk of fostering of dialogue and exchange of ideas and solutions in a bid to achieve climate and development goals together, but mere talk without financial commitment and compensation for the poor communities and countries that have been forced to bear the brunt of this crisis will not bring relief and justice to the world’s most susceptible souls. The summit takes place on the backdrop of persistent droughts, cyclones that have caused mayhem and misery to life and property, it…
Oh, Oh, Onah, do you sometimes soberly run your numb nose over your armpits to detect where the odor comes from or just revel being in denial: scapegoating, playing to the gallery? am l talking in parables, dear daughter of patriotism? l’m talking of how the War Compensation Fund fell victim to corrupt business practices! didn’t the cabinet members use it to look after their interests? don’t they live in obscene opulence? Oh, Oh, Onah, don’t start me on that one, you sought preferential admission into educational institutions, preferential access to housing, government employment, residential and business stands and…
Would we be talking of this drama if there was real devolution? Call it devolution, call it decentralization, it’s a deadly drought In Zim because of centralization and control freaks in Harare! I hear the Nkala syndrome reared its ugly head in Plumtree, I hear there is a revival of a big betraying bootlicking contest That can really rile, chock and shock any decent observer, People, who bags in the Big Bootlicking Prize of the Year? It’s no secret that communities are starved of sources Of livelihoods since companies were cruelly crushed down, It’s no joke that the youth…
The UK has a new prime minister… Today’s world news is evidently dominated by a variety of interesting and illuminating stories, expectations, theories, debates and analyses about Mr. Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor of the exchequer who is now the new leader of the UK Conservative Party and the new UK Prime Minister. Imagine, as leader of the largest party in the Commons, he gets invited to Buckingham Palace by the King in a ceremony called “kissing hands”. Yes, a tradition dubbed “kissing hands” as if it is some interesting political marriage of sorts. The King looks him in the…
Dispersed, distressed, Their years yawning, yelling In the wailing wet wastelands, The famished farmers are furious, Deep, trapped in the interior of nowhere, Devoid of decent days, stamina and sanity, Done for, dehydrated by deceit and damage, Drenched in dryness, din, malice and muck, Scented decline dances in their daily battles Since a horde of inhuman hoodlums have been Hanging around, pillaging, preaching foul fibs, Humiliating the citizens’ greens into badlands For the past 42 years of bondage and brutality, After a painful period of 42 years, is there hope? How can there be a glimmer of hope when we…
pen, please pay attention for a while, I beg of you, this ode has to be birthed, let you and I curate and compose an ode to our pained, puzzled planet, to the peoples of this worried world, let this piece find meaning in a meaningless era, humanity in the face of inhumanity, love and hope in a loveless, hopeless kiss, to the protagonists, present and prospect, let it be a work of poetry of our time, a song to jog our memory about ecological onuses, pen please play your role, is it time to pamper…
The old man to his grandson who has said if he had money he would just sleep and be lazy: be on the go, with or without cash, the body wants you to be full of life, for life was meant to be led and lived in an active, productive and positive way.
Don’t they preach: creative and home-grown solutions to our sticky situations? They do. Who says there is a flawless and fast fix to our economic woes on the continent? Who says we shouldn’t think outside the box? Who says we shouldn’t have home-cut keys to unlock economic prospects and prosperity? One man was convinced he had the right cure. This piece of poetry is a placatory pondering pause, a discursive echo, perhaps far from a precise panacea. Think of a rare, intriguing presidential manifesto that sought to demolish a nation’s debt in style too. …
On a lonely literary journey ,the bard travelled often with difficulty, navigating negativity, noise, paucity, stereotypical editorship & censorship. On a journey to wellness ,a stout ,serious man had to deal with terminologies and questions like “what makes pigs fat, man?”, “rustics eat too much!” On a pathway to peace, healing, health and happiness, a soul was told,” don’t go against the current, it’s futile, who in your fam has ever been calm, happy & healthy?” On a mission to recovery or reinvention, the lady was told she wasn’t going to recover from it, it was hereditary,…
those who were once a part, a fragment of the other, had to come to terms with a development , a situation, since situations are not always static in this dynamic life they were a part but they became geographically apart, apart from that it appears they remained emotionally inseparable, though distance had indeed bodily separated them, they cared for that magic coalescence for it appears that the unimaginable had landed ,ensued in style … imagine two distinct continents, two countries coupled, caressed and clinched by two happy but hurt cores that had heavily conjoined into their heads…
The revered and seasoned Bulawayo economist broke her silence. She broached the subject of zeroes who call themselves heroes, of the loud, lousy and lost locusts that leave behind a trail of destruction and decay. Bulawayo listened to her. Sometimes it takes a listening soul to heal headaches and wounds. They heard her silence and called her a humble and hurt heroine. She said she couldn’t brook it anymore, any further, lest history judges her harshly. She was obliged to listen to her conscience, to listen to their plight and wailing. She listened to her inner voice because noisy and…
Resting after coming back from a mind-numbing time: hoeing and fencing off the field, she heard the doors bang and squeak, she heard the doors sulk and shudder. By virtue of the force of the whirlwind, paper and leaves soared, sped in the wind, for the wild whirlwind has a terrible, tumultuous tendency of stirring up things, of tossing, tucking away: cash, clothes, belongings, books and stillness. The whirlwind comes to the party with a host of terrors, their mission is to stir up emotions ,plunge populations into disquiet, disharmony, destruction and despondency; the wild whirlwind circled around mom’s yard…
As an artist visualizes before they design or draw so must we envisage our walk with purpose and shape our future, We embark on an unpredictable journey of life with purpose , predictions and poise, We encounter highs and lows, we forge ahead, we see lessons, we learn and take ownership, If destiny takes care of itself, fine too, we take care of our dreams, destinations; We worry about what we can control, we choose our battles, paths and people, Choice is a word that can make a difference between feat and fiasco, dignity and dishonor. Choice is a word…
As fumes litter the atmosphere We think of the greener yesteryear, What happened to that bold breeze Of bloom that made our hearts freeze? We froze with glee as we raised bees and peas, Now it’s broken by virtue of our crude squeeze, The environment is mourning its loss of virginity, Our knack for destruction is a distressing insanity
Not all politicians are leaders, not all humans have an intellect of humanity, some are heartless like Hadeston who claims that he is so patriotic that he would switch off the oxygen to a foreigner to save or protect a South African life! He won’t hesitate to sacrifice a foreigner, he won’t shilly-shally to switch off the oxygen supply to a non-national to save a South African, so he made the shameless and ruthless comment as he scolded the foreigners for overburdening South Africa’s healthcare system, it is clear that the monster of xenophobia can shove one into nastiness…
restrictions and protocols ruled, I remember the cruel Covid days, fears and tears swept across souls, scary news bombed us, the old gave in to the new but onto hope we held, we became proficient at pondering praying, prying, peering and masking, some lost their jobs and peace of mind, others fell into retirement as if to start spending their dear children’s inheritance, I dived into literature and it gave me relief and a window into the lives of other souls, I dreamed of funny folk brushing up against a season to reason, marching on a horizon, of midair getting…
They hummed hopeful hymns, they had to as they saw a horizon, their hearts hunted for a hopping hope. Their choruses cried heartbreaking calls: We’re the hurt souls seeking to overwhelm and overturn the rain of pain of our pasts. Background information The poem is taken off the poet’s upcoming book titled Yummy Hymns, Clumsy Echoes
I hear the stillness of streams, what can be purer and pinker than the sincere sight and splash of our mother nature, the wildlife? what can be lovelier than its love? My heart and hands are happy and healed by graceful gardens that restore, reign and rave in my soul, on the horizon, in the landscape of wonder! Nature has a way of nurturing my spirits and planting, pruning greens of calm in my dizzy, dozy eyes; I’m fond of fun outings and sightings, my soul strolls into spaces of the wildlife. It does so to energize…
Background Information Taken off the poet’s upcoming book titled, The Birds That Never Learned To Fly: We Have No More Tears, the poems touch on such issues as the critical energy challenges bedeviling South Africa and Zimbabwe, mounting frustration and disgruntlement of the citizens and the beauty of nature. Plagued By An Energy Pandemic Lord, have mercy on us, there is a lousy ,drowsy load of load shedding crisis that has snowballed into a daily disruptive, piteous plague. Our prayer seeks to push out an energy pandemic that preys on the powerless peoples of Zimbabwe and South Africa,…
Cont Mhlanga, a fine fount of knowhow, Words, words are not adequate to describe how You lived and touched the lives of many a soul, May your lovely legacy of insight live and console, A visionary, founder of Amakhosi Theatre Productions, May your works speak to us and to the future generations. You were not only a celebrated playwright and director, But also a peerless jet of inspiration to many a soul, A passionate protector of history and heritage, a daring defender Of the defenseless and voiceless whose modesty was a splendor, Words are not enough to define your…
News in English, nice sounds in your language! Dancing with words on a dizzy floor of literature, Adding an arty dimension to the voice of reason, Brought to the floor to breathe life into words, Anxious and addicted to how words really dance.
The king of the jungle strolls silently without a jingle in a forest of books on a muddy morass, this lion has a diet, it feeds on bookish grass and roars and soars into wonderful wide worlds where pens and words are the mightiest swords!
have you heard the roar of a river that is silly, sentimental and starved? have you felt the edges of a river whose waters are caring and loving? have you sung and danced in the thunder and wonder of a river that flows into you?
It was fast and ferociously crushing his … The dog hardly barked, maybe a nocturnal intruder also thought that it was a harmless, happy hound which barely bite souls, but that was possibly the most daring gaffe of his life as a thief. The solitary occupant of the house, a lady aged 85 woke up to a bizarre pleading bellow, “Please, people help, I plead guilty, I’m ready and willing to be arrested and sentenced. Please, save me, it’s crushing my balls!” Indeed it had latched straight onto his private parcels, without the slightest signal of being…
