ICE CREAM VAN

Little girl,
young lady,
stay away from the ice cream van

That van
brings you fun
that's why you run
to its booby-trapped doors
to get your ice cream
(and you live a GOOD LIFE)

But little girl,
young lady,
I implore you:
stay away from the ice cream van

There's another van that comes
that which you clamour for
it brings you roses and diamonds
pearls of obscene values
but little girl,
stay away from the florist's van

Another van comes,
doesn't it?
that brings you stacks of money
as if the driver owns the central bank
but little girl, young woman
stay away from the cash delivery van

The ice cream has poison
which will weaken
your blood system

Inside the bouquet of flowers
is a tiny but dangerous snake
which will kill you in no time

Inside the cash van
are gun men
they'll take your life
if you refuse to follow them

But look at you little girl
look at you young lady
you're saying am too rigid
in my thinking
simply because I've warned you
of the lurking danger

I'm telling you not to walk away from me
as I want to protect your tender life
but look at you!
You're walking away
towards the ice cream van

Young lady,
you're walking away
towards the florist's van
you're walking away
towards the cash delivery van
you're walking away.......

I SHALL FIND TIME (AFTER EPHRAIM NYONDO)

I shall find time my love
to caress you like I used to
to embrace you in my arms
and wipe your tears

Your ears will once more
hear my sweet-nothings
I will be with you
any minute, any second

But for now,
let me go
to the place
where writer find their muses

Only then will I come
to be with you my love
I promise I will never leave you
I shall find time

REDUCED TO A FILE

AM SORRY MY CHILD
you've been reduced to a file
they no longer call you Ndaona
they refer to you by case number
in their choked legalese

That yo have (had)
dreams and ambitions
they don't care
they don't see you,
don't see the tears in your eyes
they don't see the pain in your face
they don't look at you,
they only look at the file
you've been reduced to a file, my child

No one cares that your  youth
is being wasted
they don't realise you had dreams
but they're now dissipated
they don't take time
to talk to you,
to actually know you,
you're reduced to a file

You're dying inside
and they don't notice,
if they notice they don't care
you don't have a name,
to them you're just a case

Am sorry my child
you've been reduced to a file
they no longer call you Ndaona
they refer to you by case number

You're just a character
in a piece of fiction
your hopes and ambitions
frozen on a piece of paper,
which they call a file
am sorry my child,
you've been reduced to a file,
reduced to a case number.....

DAZE OF CREATIVITY

IT WAS the daze of your creativity
that hypnotised me
your beautiful smile arrested my mind
how can you be beautiful
and yet be kind
having the unfortunate under your wings?

I saw a spark in your eyes
and it has lit a fire in my heart
when I see you
all my troubles go to sleep
I call you little girl
yet I treat you like a mother
You mother my ambitions and aspirations

My goal is to write love on your heart
to be caressed by the tenderness of
your heart and arms
to be teased by you
knowing you'll please me
I long to be nurtured in your heart

My ambition is to build my heart
in your angellic heart
erase my hurt
and give me cause
to face life with my chin held up
Little girl, you're the one I love
Hide me under your wings!!!!

WHY MALAWI?

Why, Malawi?
Why, land of my birth?
Why Malawi, land of my forefathers?

Why do you kill
your little ones?
Why do you inject poison
into bodies of your babies?

Why dump toxic waste
into the river
old, frail women drink from?

Why mine the field
where the children play?
Why lay traps
on the little ones' playground?

Why, Malawi?
Why, land of my birth?
Why Malawi, land of my forefathers?

2012: WHEN MY TRAVELLING SHOES GOT WORN OUT

2012:
a year when
my spirit got crushed
and maimed
as battles continued to rage

a year when
my travelling shoes
got worn out
as thistles and thorns
pierced my tired feet

a year when
I got maimed
in body, mind and soul

a year when
my heart got pain
for a friend
when the void in me
got even bigger

a year when
I got displaced
from the seat  of tranquility
when I lost innocence and inner sense

a year when
I gave up on dreams
and encountered nightmares

a year when
I wronged those who did me right
when I was the dark
instead of being the light

a year when
the brightest of flowers
got plucked from my life
(RIP Aunt Vic and Aunt Sue)
a year when some lights
got dimmed from my life

a year when
push came to shove
and shove to the fall
a year when I changed
from bad to worse

a year when
poetry no longer cured my pain
when art no longer hid my shame
when bad was my surname

Fare thee well 2012
I will never look back
to you with nostalgia
but since my art
is a story of never-forgetting
I will remember you
I will remember the particles
of happiness
and new friends made
I will thank the maker
for the breath of life
and 2012.....
I will remember even your ugliness

A THOUSAND FACES OF TRUTH

Look into my bluest eye
and see the thousand faces of truth
am a beggar, and am the truth
not your sugarcoated statistics
-statistics are human beings
with the tears wiped off

Look into my bluest eye
and see the pain and shame
hidden by the sparkles
and pseudo-smiles
am hurting and hating
yet no one notices

Behind this veil of bliss
are a thousand faces
a thousand faces of truth
a thousand faces bathed in blood
a thousand faces knowing no smiles
a thousand faces of truth

If you ever look into human faces
remove the veil of bliss and watch
take your time to notice the faces
-a thousand faces of truth

Look into my bluest eye
and see
look into my bluest eye
and see a thousand faces
look into my bluest eye
and see a thousand faces of truth
remove the veil of bliss