COURAGE CALLS by Mbongeni Khumalo

[tabby title="Poem"] "Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied" - Millicent Fawcett To have the courage of your convictionsIs to live without any reservationsAs the saying goesLower your voice and sharpenYour argumentNothing mealie-mouthed or saidTongue in...

THE BEAUTY OF WAR by Mbongeni Khumalo

[tabby title="Poem"] (rub-a-dub for lesego rampolokeng) My poetry my death warrantRubber-stamped in the Dutch man's African koerantInterrogated on Freedom DayV-day or D-DayEach a venereal diseaseThe self-enslavement of false emancipationDripping salivaWhere men in funnel flannel pants spillLiberation down the drainAnd call...

TELL NO LIE(A poem for Cabral) by Mbongeni Khumalo

[tabby title="Poem"] We the people of colourAre the true colouredsThe wretched of the earth'sFuture human raceBlack by self-definition'Cos race is a political constructIt all startedAt the Manchester ConferenceAssimilation a point of referenceBut nowEvery pig is Guinea-BissauA lab ratFor genetic experimentationWhereForeskins...

Apples in Autumn by Mbongeni Khumalo

[tabby title="Poem"] Sour grapesSweet as apples in AutumnRipe as raisinsFresh fruit on its bottomSweet decay Canned fruitsAre all the more sweeterEaten out of seasonLike dried fruitsWe mellow when we wearOur bad old skinsAs a fruit forbiddenWe sin in heaven& kiss...

DELUGE IN SOWETO by Mbongeni Khumalo

[tabby title="Poem"] It doesn't reign it pause...The sky sneezesWipes its mess with a handkerchiefOf nimbusThe slums swallow its sweatSweeping shacksAnd mansionsHigh and dry but still wetWhen it rains it pours...Every wo/man and manholeBursting at seamsInundated by floodsIn a water scarce...