“The day the power of love overrules
the love of power,
the world will know peace.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Every saint is at once a sinner
Flesh & Spirit intertwined
A barbecue for satan’s dinner
High on holy wine
Gurus bound burning in stakes
Freedom is the right to make mistakes
It was passive resistance
That brought us to an impasse
Positivity in Action a status of campaign
From Sharpville to Langa
The sun rose and set in Nyanga
Arms raised in a gesture of peace
But placards turned to a bull’s eye
For a day of target practice
Shot at the picket lines
Public debate drowned in a hail
Of bullets tears and wails
Deep enough to fill Dlomo Dam
The echoes of Biko
Lembede & Sobukwe in unison
There is no freedom in indignity
Humanity unbound by garrisons
Truth is not a basic salary
But Reconciliation pays a Commission
What does it mean to be African?
Africanicity beyond ethnicity
Seek ye the political kingdom first
A violent march in Satyagraha
Clenched fist or open palm pacifist
From Cape to Accra
Cry the Beloved Country
The aftermath a new-found mantra
In shrieking Cries of Freedom
School kids shot live in protest
Buried in mass funerals
After mass funerals
They say Justice is colour-blind
Yet it winks out orders in a squint eye
Beaten senseless
Robbed and left for dead
The revolution is not a system
But you becoming a better person
Mbongeni Khumalo is the author of the poetry collection Apocrypha.