Pursuing love without baggage
In transit is improbable to
She who is already terrified and
In anticipation of oceans from streams
And rivers of pain
Wanting one with two dimples
Whilst possessing one is very
Audacious an act
The dimple is worthy as an audience
Clapping hands for the two on stage
Had this heart been Shona,
It would decide against pairing
With a bigger heart than itself
It would timidly decide against wanting
A progressively radical soul
It would choose to deliberately forget
And move on…
But one comes to know before forgetting
One comes to stay before relocating
The driveway in your mouth
Makes path for profound speech
Your mouth cuts sharply
At the injustices of society
Your tied unmodified Afro is a
Stamp of Black Consciousness
Long live, Steve Biko
Those black soiled Chuck Taylor’s
Exhibit harmony with your being
Perhaps the Table Mountain is still
Innately connected to nature while
Jo’burg moved with the times
Perhaps Jo’burg has opted for Wi-Fi
Over the human touch
Water is still a sacred entity in Cape Town
Like you, let me robustly shorten this
And speak no further
Let me consciously forget every word
Along with its connotations.
Nkululeko Zondi is an HIV/Aids Educator at the City of Johannesburg Municipality and an Occupational Journalism student at the Fray College of Communications. A former student of the University of Johannesburg, he holds a liberal arts degree from the University of South Africa. He writes poetry and prose in both isiZulu and English; and has been published in numerous online literary publications such as Poetry Potion, AVBOB Poetry, Kalahari Review, Fundza.mobi, Aerodrome, Noisemedium, consciousness.co.za among others and anthologies like Dear, South Africa (2015), Between the Silence: Poetry for Human Rights (2021), Calabash Literary Magazine Vol. 3 (2022) and Voice of Africa: A Call for Freedom (2022). He has also appeared in various South African newspapers such as the Mail & Guardian, the Star, Sowetan, the New Age, Citizen and the Daily Maverick. Recently, Zondi became second-prize winner in both AVBOB Poetry’s Ecopoetry mini-competition in April 2022 and AVBOB Poetry’s Family First mini-competition in May 2022. He is also shortlisted for the 2022 Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award.