Thy Will Be Done: “I closed your eyes, you opened mine”.
Cruel I called it
In my eyes and
Human mind.
Today, at ten
Matswale,
We interred your remains,
At sun-set, same day
You hailed him,
He, whom you termed ‘better half’,
by the grave beside you.
Not a date dared you yield him
Of mourning you, Matswale.
You brooked no basking
In another sunshine minus you
without that, ’till death do us part’.
Couldn’t your recall – or collection-
of him -daylight wait
For the ‘stains of our weeping’ to dry-
And us to regain, our eyesight
For a day, Overnight, at least!
Was that too much to expect
of a lifetime spent together?
Though a toddler I remain
weaned off your womb
I may not know
the mystery behind my being
As we came to be here.
Still, I am asking,
what’s a day in a life-
What more in infinite eternity!
Did it have to be…today too-
To follow In your prints?
If insolent I seem
Indulgence I seek ,
In spite of the height of my folly
For doubting your will
Now beyond my midget mind
and uttering the despicable word.
Still, was it meant to be-
same day!
Is that the meaning:
Of “Till death do us part?”
Here, Matswale,
Permit me for saying
You got your own-
Thy will was done-
You denied death’s due
Never to part you.
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.