Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Shambie Mpho writes


Shatale Village


In Shatale
A corpse walked the night
On the eve of his funeral
Tears streamed down his face
From a distance
He rattled his chains
Trying hard to fight the forces of evil
Tongueless to say a word
Itching to comfort his relatives
But his screams were never heard...

In Shatale
A deadman wept
He wept for his children
He wept for his siblings
He wept for his life
Taken away without reason
The living deadman wept
He wept tears with blood
Not knowing how it could be
That one of his own
Could be so evil
His life cut so short
Without offending a soul
His inside shredded by vodoo...

In Shatale
Where mother-nature spread her legs
To let me live or die
I saw a corpse walk the night
On the eve of his funeral
The night of his vigil
And i pretended not to see
For i had my own weight to carry
My own demons to fight
One minute lost
Is the end of the road
One eye closed
Even your mother cuts you short
In Shatale, Bushbuckridge...


Image result for black and white zombie images

3 comments:

  1. In West Africa zombies are incorporeal spirits. But the idea of physical zombie-like creatures is present in some South African cultures, where they are called "xidachane"" in Sotho/Tsonga and "maduxwane" in Venda. It is believed in some areas of South Africa that witches can zombify a person by killing and possessing the victim's body in order to force it into slave labor, although a sangoma (healer) who is powerful enough can break the spell.

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  2. This is an excellent poem, consistent and powerful. I do not know the politics of the region but on the first reading felt it to be a political poem of suppression. Then when I read it again, I saw betrayal by a friend or family member. Then when I read it a third time . . .

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  3. SeoulDave, I agree completely. My own comment was of a general nature, just in case someone didn't understand the zombie context in Shambie's country , but I'm glad you wrote about the poem itself. (The title refers to his home town.)

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