Night Birds by Tatenda William Mhlanga

Night draws closer with end day

Where they take over in hunt of prey

Night birds-exhausted they fly not

Parroting, they cry not

Smile a lot, squeaking,

Chattering, glittering

When the lights are more than dim-dark

When we the dogs that bark

Behind bars, try our luck

Not with our catapults loose

Misled is our target we miss,

In agony, them gliding, we can’t resist

Starring, like queens, but we as kings

Of unmeasured wit, defiant

Amused not of their deviance

To wander while others pray, misled

Skinny, blindfolded and lost

For hunger not to satisfy

Rotten flesh, disabled to gratify

Integrity-sweltering, for night birds of prey?

We long for fleshy birds of day.

FRIEND OR FOE by Witness Hamudi

Ignore the turning of a friend to a foe,

When you’re being proven a fool,

Their laughter when you fall off a stool,

Their frowning when you soundly chew

Or the loneliness you go through,

When you enroll in a new school

But ignore not when a foe turns a friend;

It may be true or utter pretense.

Ignore not the repentance

It may be to bind or slacken your acquaintance.

All other things you may ignore,

But not when you make a friend out of a foe.

lets just talk

You should talk I think,

If you don’t you stink,

No communication no link

From the colourless wine bottle you shall not drink,

In the wilderness of self torment, you shall shrink

Its better to speak out, don’t give me a wink.



Speak out your mind,

Then receive answers of many kinds.

No doubt, relationships you shall find,

Quietness is the worst sanctuary to hide,

Inside yourself nothing to confide.

Come out. Utter something and push this coyness aside,

And in the peace of mind you will abide.



It’s not safe to die in torment,

Your predicament becomes everyone’s consent

In dialogue, there is less disaffection to ferment,

There are always mistakes to correct,

Even problems to confront,

And a relationship to cement.







By Tatenda Mhlanga

DEATHDAY by Witness Hamudi

DEATHDAY

A grave there is somewhere out there

Where the cold eyes of mine stare

Whose sorrow night and day I share.

I used to with at least half my heart care

For the motionless one who lies in there,

The cold of winter wrapping around him

And the memory with time getting dim

But as always I’m reminded as well as being haunted

By my love’s Deathday

That has come to take away from the Birthday

Then how can I not imagine

The images that once pushed to the margin-

Of my mind being rekindled, coming back.

With love and fear I stand there and shake

Oh that day again!

That on mine heart leaves a stubborn stain

Of pain: remembering the grave

Down to which love I once gave.

Poor World of Dreaming

Its still, before the dark hours,

Still in the middle of a rest thats ours,

From an unknown vision, motion pictures emerge

Starring people found in life pages.

Some smiling,

Others, crying.

Among these are those without friends,

Those with them unleashing their own new trends,

Their feelings conveyed by laughter screams,

Those in agony, heard by horror shrills.

Surprisingly the audience never found its meaning,

Here lives are being crotched, in weaving,

Reflecting the happenings in our lives,

The recordings, the history of recent times.

As the night away fades

Only snores, no noise, no words.

Where it all ends,

When the cool morning breeze encroaches,

As the enlightened day approaches.

It’s no longer the poor world of dreaming,

It’s now the real world worth living.

Dinner With The Devil (2)

Indeed I dined with him
When the lights were more than dim
The Devil-
The reign of evil
Back in the day
Where a visit was forced to pay
To sit across him in the dark
Where his grinning face with luck
Nearly took my bile up
Considering we were at the Last Supper
Badly prepared salad, burnt rice,
Kapenta and unroasted meat invited flies
Which the master minder slaughtered and ate
Together with his disciples who spat
Everywhere around the old broken dinner table.
We drank thick blood in addition
Which I recorded was their addiction.
Rotten apples became the dessert
As well as unripe paw-paws
I couldn’t take it any more at last
Never to excuse myself, I ran away fast.

ugly

flies do fly bys

ova dead bodies

"why!" cries

rise to empty skies

we know you dont care

suits cant disguise

the body language as you stand there

giving speechfuls of lies

stories of government flaws reach for the skies

shouted out by future matyrs

"tomorrow is uncertain",

the future stutters