Blaspheming Trees
Skulking spirits
Sulking genies
Marauding ghosts
And ghouls too-
Of Lynched bodies
Swaying in the wind
Booty for “headhunters”
maiming, milking and bleeding
When atrocity was hobby
Seeding strange fruits
a ‘la Christmas trees
Of vampire appetites
A tacit treat
For human flesh :
“This is my body…”
A sacrament
Washed down in ‘my blood”.
In skulls for trophies
Vessels for western libation
And cremation of alien civilizations
Bonfires of indigenous archives
In the curation of our own
portraits, images and narratives
In the minds of natives:
I’m your God,
The Way and Life
Kneel before no other,
But me…For this way
Lie eternal life,
damnation not discounted,
And salvation, Amen.
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.