For a roof over our heads
And a blanket for our nightmares
Pavements for our pillows
From refuse bins our daily diet
Dwellers of the street
Same in address
Equal in our rags
Siblings of necessity
Still we strive between us
For a morsel of senkgwa
crumbled chips…and
flesh gutted bones
Thrown our way.
Se senontshitse KOLOBE,
A se tsebjwe,
(Who knows what made the pig fat?)
Le gona teng ga go fahlwe
Go fahlwa leihlo. (Blind be the eye, but the tummy knows no discrimination).
We
Men
Women
and urchins
By the side
Of the road
Before dawn
Never mind dusk
Daily
Counting
Cars
Coins,
Peering into
suspicious spear (ing) eyes
Alien and familiar faces alike
Looking inside
From outside
oggling left-overs:
Wishing too, one day’s
One day,
for us to be inside
We too, we’ll ride
Horses of fate and fortune
For the Muckleneck 3: They Slept in the Park. And Woke in Another World.
Makhanda Senzangakhona is the nome de guerre and pen name for Paul Oupa Serekele Ramachela. The author has retained the use of both names because he does not wish to be lost to his comrades nor become an alien to his family, and relations. Previously published poems, short stories and other narratives have appeared in the following publications, amongst others, Staff Rider, Rixaka, Mayibuye, Mrabulo and Black Letter Media-Poetrypotion.
The author has served in various roles in and outside SA; until recently he was a senior public servant.