A country so evil
It marks the birthdays
Of its former heads of state
By poisoning our pets
Feeding our cats poisoned mice
The penultimate act of malice
Why not
Just kill the owner
And spare the pet?
First it was feline flu
Till poison turned purple-blue
Rule of the lumpens
Foreign puppets
Double-vision sniffing glue
Clueless but Africa centaured
Clay country cold as ice
Pets are not an alien species
They are as human as you & me
Mbongeni Khumalo (born 15 July 1976) is a Pimville-based poet and writer, born in Soweto. His poems and short stories have appeared in New Coin, Global Fire (The Official Newspaper of the World Summit for Sustainable Development 2002), Homeless Talk, Tribute, Timbila, Kotaz and Botsotso, amongst others. He is the 1999 English Academy of Southern Africa award-winning poet. As well as the New Coin/ DALRO Poetry 2004 first prize winner.