Saturday, May 9, 2020

SONGBIRD by SAMANTHA NOMASWAZI

SAMANTHA NOMASWAZI NUNU

Songbird!

Beautiful hymns, you sing
Deep into my soul,
Your sonorous voice
Melts away all the ice
In my heart!

Perched on the highest branch
Of a mulberry tree
Feeding my soul
With your tasty, juicy
Reddish purple fruits
Of your sonorous voice!

Their red juice,
The colour of love
Dancing through my system
Right to my heart
In unison they beat as one!

Their purple-ish skin,
Dressing my love struck heart,
With the colour of royalty!
Coats of many colours I wear,
To the pride of my heart!

Hummingbird I call you
Or martin,
As your voice
Hums its music to my soul!

Samantha Nomaswazi, ©2020


REMEMBER WOMAN by NOKUBONGA


Nokubonga Mpofu

is a young lady aged 24 born on the 6/09/1995.she reside in Bulawayo in the township of Makokoba.
She published her first book last year on the 10 of August 2019. She featured in another book called Umthombo wenkondlo written by a group called Abahayi Benkondlo.

Contact details +263785507842 | +263737048692






REMEMBER WOMAN
Woman, woman
You are unique
You are your own version
Never is someone like you

Remember woman you were born
A life giver
Inventor minded
Creative person
Magic maker

You were born with a heart
Of a thousand mothers
Open and fearless, sweet you are

Born a Queen with exceptional
Life ettiques
A warrior and conquerer

Born with wisdom that suppress
Those in authority
Born with a desire and burning
Passion in you
And to name your own destiny

Remember woman remember woman
You see yourself as a victor
Remember woman your power and grace is like
A depth of the sea




The Waves Of The Sea by Nomqhele


NOMQHELE SIBANDA

Is a member of
Singcoli creative writers foundation. She is also a member of the July Sisterhood.
Nomqhele has so far published a poetry anthology titled Fading Dreams.
She is currently working on publishing her new book _The_ _intoxicated_ _red_ _rose_. She is also working on her contribution to the July Sisterhood collaboration of short stories to be published soon..
On the 28th of August 2019 she performed a poem titled My sister, at Vongai Mujakachi's book launch and 21st birthday party.



The waves of the sea

I fell for you strongly
To me you truly belonged
Then you left me one day
I still remember that day
When you ruined my trust
There is no feeling of disgust
Because l feel bad for you!

I trusted you so much
Gave you all my heart
My loyalty in life,
My name even! 
You played with my every emotion
You cheated on me.

The waves of the sea,
Depth of the sea
Could never match up to the love l had for you
You gave me tears in vain,
You didn't bother to share my pain
Bad memories l have erased with time!


SILENCE IS NO LONGER GOLDEN By Kgalalelo Moyo



Kgalalelo Moyo was born on the 3rd of October 1994 in Bulawayo. He did his primary schooling at Fusi Primary School (2000-2006) in Gwabalanda, Bulawayo, he then attended Inyanda High School (2007-2012) in Gwabalanda, Bulawayo. Later on, he pursued his studies with Hillside Teachers’ College (2015-2016) trained as a secondary school teacher specialising in the teaching of English as a language, Literature in English and History. He then pursued his studies with the University of Zimbabwe where he attained a B.ed (English).  He has so far written two published anthologies namely The Shadow that Slumbers my Life and Now I Utter the Words Unuttered. He also collaborated with various IsiNdebele poets in the production of an anthology titled Umthombo Wenkondlo/Dura reNhetembo/ The Well of Poetry. He is currently working on an anthology and a collection of short stories titled COVIDA-NCE: The Mirror Stares Back and The Agonising Flames of Love respectively. Apart from writing, he has worked on various publications as an editor and worked alongside the likes of Albert Nyathi in the production of an anthology titled Matters of the Heart by a South African poet Tumisho Moetlo.

Extracted from The Shadow that Slumbers my Life
SILENCE IS NO LONGER GOLDEN

My voice was cut silent by those who know
They despise the words of my mouth before they hear them
They govern my life as if they are demi-gods of human nature
Wounds that could have healed sting in my heart
For my words are accounted rebellious
 
The knot in my throat has choked the rest of my being
Sorrows have flown and dried with no appeasement
My face cracks with the chilli glands from my eyes
My heart whistles through the holes created by their stabs
Their deeds the bottom of a scorpion to my heart

My misery a bliss in their tyrant traditions
My tears a rains to their garden of oppression
My cries a melody to their evil dances
My suffering a victory to their mission
My humility a reign of their evil authority

Silence is no longer golden
I will speak out the evil they have done to me
I will tell the world how they raped me
I will tell the world how they kept me quite
I will tell the world how they castrated my voice

My voice will rumble with remedies to the oppressed
I will speak the bitterness of their reigns
I will tell the world how they made me suck their manhood
I will tell the world how I got the cancer of the heart
Silence is no longer golden, let's spit the feud.


Thursday, March 26, 2020


What she carries

Behind this beautiful face she beholds that sweetness, the bliss in the city of gold. Staring fully on this glass sheet with a metallic coating where the significant reflection of her occurs. The reflection of this beauty that is like light breaking in the skies on a morning dawn. She looks at herself sitted combing, straightening out every single hair in her head. In her head she thinks , be it I can challenge these hosts of demons that are pressing hard on me to draw away the very integrity I hold to keep me sane.
As she pulls out the comb from her head, in her hands she holds it firmly. The firm grip that she has witnessed before on those dreary nights when an uncle or brother she named dared the smile she placed and misplaced it all for a thing that could never be named but for what they could touch and seek pressing pleasures on.
Behind her beautiful smile is a pained heart. A heart so painted in pain too deeply for a song. For the songs she sang pressed on care. The care she seeked from the sisters she named, but as the daylight faded into deep night shades , their real form faded into shadows. Only but their voices remained near as gossips and gossips that left her friend-less and remained her alone.
She sits infront of this mirror uprightly for those are the upright teachings she often heard from her mothers she named. They filled her up with the steps a woman needs to take to keep a man leaning on her breasts but behind those breasts is a soul so weary from all the what to do or not teachings but still lacks enjoyment. These men that come and lean so hard on her leave the mighty part of her suffocating and the rest of who she is empty.
As she combs the last portion of the curled hair in her head, in her head still she hears voices. Demonic voices that are slowly diluting the very integrity left to keep her sane. She is more than just the beauty she beholds , the heavy crosses she had to bear left a sting of confidence inside her she not realises. The love they all declared from her but she never claimed back, it all left a seed,a mark of how love begins. She sits there and these voices challenge her to be different, the voices block her sound mind, her clear conscious and she does not realize who she is or born to be any more.
Her heart still searches,she seeks for what she already holds, she is fighting a fight she already won. Yet she sees it not for these demonic voices have diluted all she sees as clear to a cloudy dark scene .
As she stares fully on her reflection and places the comb down with relief of a reflection she’s made look perfect – she is beautiful. But she is about to walk again with oppressing issues ringing in her ears. How else would she know that the stronger she dwells inside her. How else would she know that her happiness lies in her strength, her purpose is that found in the work that brings her happiness. How else would she free such doubts and fears when all she sees is well with her.
Normah Nxumalo
Listen to Audio here. LIKE - SHARE - SUBSCRIBE

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Acoustic & Acoustic Reply : HiRev feat. Samantha Nomaswazi




Acoustic



HiRev
Chords to pluck,
I string my luck.
Only once did I,
 Again I begged, “Please!”

I'm in love with a box, 
Vanished with maple,
 Glare give me shine,
Validation of my affection!

Only once I say,
Only twice I dare!
For a moment,
Allow me to believe my persistence and diligence!

I know I can, 
And can I must,
 I'm in love with this acoustic.




By
 HiRev Rockstar




Acoustic: The Reply!



Samantha Nomaswazi
Chords you pluck
Stringing my heart with your charm
Once I saw you,
And knew it was right!

The voice from the box, vanished with maple
Soothes my soul
Shimmering my heart
With so much adoration!

Only once I say!
Twice never to touch my lips
For that time has come
To take that love outpouring from your heart!

My heart does not lie
Your bass-like voice
Lures me into
Deeper affection!


By
Samantha Nomaswazi


I Am Generation Equality, Realizing Women's Rights - THE 12 PIECE : with Comfort Ndlovu


12 POEMS 
for  I Am Generation Equality, Realizing Women's Rights.
 


By Comfort Ndlovu
Age: 31
Sex: Male
From: Qinisela Village, Gwezha (Ward 3), Matobo (rural) District, Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe.
Contact: +263 715 228 905 (WhatsApp)
+263 775 043 217 (Calls + SMS)
email: comfortndlovu4@gmail.com

1. (NEW) AWAKENINGS


New awakenings:
Dry leaves fly away
making way
to fresh ways
of green buds
taking charge of days
where hope once again lives -
where change arrives
and democracy thrives;

Call out the seasons,
Seek all the reasons
to behold and believe
a better life all can live;
Behold and believe,
Believe and live,
Live and let live!

Sow our dreams anew
under African sky blue:
Summer bless the seed,
Fill the need and wash away greed;
Autumn attend to our empty stomachs,
drown sorrow and all stretch marks...

Winter cool our brows,
Keep the green for animals all to browse;
Spring bring peace, let walls of division fall;
Bring salt, bread, water and work for all,
Salt, bread, water and work for all.

 2. I AM GENERATION EQUALITY, etc.


Did you see her fall?
Did you hear her call?

Did you hear her cry?
Did you notice blood in her eye?

Did you hear her shout
as she sought a way
of a cage full of rage?
To escape - she could not manage.

Did you notice, did you care
about the pain behind a wasted tear?
Do you recall the time and place
Where someone stole her innocence?

*                 *                 *

I shall not wait for her to fall
let alone in desperation wildly call;
I won't stand seeing her cry
and in shame behold tears tear off her precious eye;

Never will let her sail and fail alone,
Never will leave her to struggle along on her own;
I'll always play my part
to ensure she doesn't fall apart
For, 'tis my needful part - a part perfectly to play
to save her thin skin from the rough sun's ray;

I shall guard her way in and way out,
her way up and never let her down;
I'll hold her hand and bright'n her lights
of hope and comfort, for I am generation equality,
realizing women's rights.

 
3. Acrostic: REALIZING WOMEN'S RIGHTS


*R* aising their voices in search of
*E* ager ears willing to entertain their pain
*A* re oppressed women and girls
*L* iving in fear and
*I* n a constant struggle to speak out.
*Z* eal and zest the only salve
*I* n their bruised and swollen eyes,
*N* ights stretch, lights fade in
*G* rowing darkness facing their

*W* ay. Their smiles hide stretch marks
*O* f oppression and broken trust...
*M* ay mighty men arise, then, and
*E* nd empower them to see through tough
*N* ights and days, like
*S* weet seasons through rough years;

*R* ekindle the heat
*I* n the flames of
*G* olden hearts
*H* olding hands
*T* o sow seeds of hope for all
*S* catterlings of a fruitful land!

4. Acrostic: I AM GENERATION EQUALITY, REALIZING WOMEN'S RIGHTS


*I* am a rolling stone

*A* rolling stone I am
*m* oving downhill;

*G* rinding mountains to size,
*e* quality is my aim.
*N* o bed at night, no bread at noon,
*e* arly are my mornings. Alone,
*r* ising up against the daring dew
*a* ttempting to wear out
*t* he precision in me,
*I* roll on, constantly and persistently
*o* n hostile ground, pressures of which
*n* o man else can (with)stand

*e* xcept if compelled by insurmountable Purpose.
*Q* uietly, yet quickly
*u* nder high roots
*a* nd above dead leaves,
*l* ove encourages my pace.
*I* rudely am rolling my rough shoulder
*t* o a plain where
*y* oung women and girls plainly

*r* aise their voices in search of
*e* ager ears willing to entertain
*a* ll their colourful concerns
*l* ying low in their hearts and minds and
*i* n their mouths willing to take a stand.
*Z* eal and zest my comfort; my shapeless nature
*i* n a mission swallowed: "To be
*n* ine seasons in a night -
*g* iving a thousand voices to

*w* eary women and girls facing
*o* ppression and an order of silence."
*M* ighty men arise (I'm one of them),
*e* nd rape, human trafficking and abuse
*NOW!*
*S* ee the rainbow falling -

*R* ebuild, reshape and restore
*i* ts wondrous ways of hope.
*G* rind not healthy efforts to the ground;
*H* eal the rough throats of a silent generation;
*T* ry, by and with all means, not to
*s* ilence the stone!

5. LIMERICKY


There was a man who said: "Quality
of life can all be reached through equality
of opportunities and bright lights,
So, realizing women's rights -
I am generation equality!"

6. SHE NEEDS SOMEONE


Taking the sun blow by blow
A great struggle she faces,
A lone cloud surfaces
to cool her bruised brow
But that's not enough:

She needs someone to make her tough
enough to make it through the day -
to seek and find herself in mountainous hay;
She needs a generation that realizes her rights
without asking "why?"

7. LET HER SHINE


Give her your anger
she'll give you her fear,
Give her your hand
she'll draw you near;

Let her shine through the day
and you'll enjoy the light,
Take out her smile like wildfire
and you'll see flames through the night!

Strike her like Moses struck the rock
and you'll never see Canaan,
But, work constantly to ease her pain
and she'll - freeing the sky - make you receive sweet rain!

8. TOIL


Sitting under the shade
I behold Mother stretching her hand
to plead, hoe-in-hand, with this hard land;
Sweat falling, dust rising, an inner tear I shed.

She loves the field
and my ever absent father,
but no rain to give her some yield
nor Father to come home my stomach to feed.

She leaves the field
and pursues Market Square Road. The dusty soil
she with heavy feet digs, has trapped her
Between hunger and toil.

9. MARCH TO FREEDOM


The stones cannot march to total freedom,
I shall march all the way, to free the four winds.
The stones cannot, with a song, call for equality,
I shall strongly shout in behalf of the weaker sex:

"Female genital mutilation
's a misfortune in any nation;
Early child (and forced) marriages
stain the throne of The Rock Of Ages;

"Indecent assault
is like a mountain of salt
forced down an infant's throat!...
Incest is the best
description of worst
of injustices.
Rape's a rebellious shark that -
swallowing all seas -
leaves fish, fauna and flora
shamefully to die..."

The stones shall stay,
I shall sail away
to an open land
where I'll lend a hand
to every woman and girl,
well, there're many stories to tell
and many principles to teach
and so great some heights to reach

but mine prime responsibility
is to inspire a generation of equality
For I realize women's rights
and hence would urge women to realize
how urgent it is
for them for their own rights too to fight
like a swarm of bees
to a land of justice taking flight!

10. SECRETS


Secrets of Mount Kilimanjaro
take me to a better tomorrow;
Sitting on top of Kilimanjaro
I see a path the wise must follow:

An exchange of hands causing bloodshed
with arms that build a shade
for scatterlings of hope;

An en to the rope
that hangs and kills without an end;
I can see the xenophobic rod bend;

An end to ridicule and rape
from Cairo to the Cape;
Hands and races and sexes coming together
to give birth to a new weather

and a new set of feet
to walk the talk
and to walk tall towards total triumph -
tall trees tying torn pieces of our moral fabric
back together again!

11. AFRICAN WOMAN, WHAT MADE YOU SO STRONG?


Taking life blow by blow
each day passing by, slowly,
You keep your head low
and your heart's hopes up -
unwilling to give up
yet willing to let go;

With a revolutionary song
strengthening every weak joint
You struggle along;
Though he made you wrong, so wrong
until you saw no point
of going on, you remained strong...

Submitting (and not standing up) to him
your sole comfort a heavy hymn
behind your walls of Jericho
unwilling to yield to the echo
of insults inflicted upon your weary brow
And fists hell unto your heaven he does ceaselessly throw...

African woman, what made you so strong?
Is it because you've "seen it all"?
African woman, have you seen it all?
Do you still care 'bout the diff'rence of right and wrong?
Is there no longer a pulse in your breast
that still hopes for the best?

Maybe it's because you've seen it all:
You saw the blood of your loved ones fall
while houses of oppressors pushed limits off the sky;
Maybe it's because you were made to pass by
a thousand rotting bodies of the ones you once shared
this life's joys; while fleeing from your village burning.
Is it that kind of bad?

You saw a crab feast on its children:
First, your daughter being drugged and dragged into incest;
Second, you've got to live with that smell of oil
that comes from Western Wells that swallowed your son -
forever lying lost - never to get cover of coffin nor home-soil;
Third, you no longer dread the colour red:
You saw once, a neighbour's daughter, raped
and covered in it. You witness, daily, her future in hell trapped;

Fourth, your boy who'd gone to the North long ago
came back recently, with men who'd forced him to go to war,
All of them one eye and one arm less;
Fifth, you hear about your husband going places
preaching about equality, women empowerment
and promotion (and protection) of their rights
But you see a different man(ster) coming home to break bedroom lights
and make sure you have sleepless nights.

12. LITTLE LIGHT


I've got a little light,
I'm going to make it shine
Not for the world to see
But for me my path to find;

I've got a wish to climb a mountain.
I may not be fast, but I'll continue to climb
Not for the world to see me
But for me the world to see;

I've got a desire to see the world
through an eagle's eye -
to see how equality can be realised
in this our generation;
how women's rights can be upheld
And what my contribution must be;

The world's wide darkness
LAUGHS AT my little light:
I can't light up the whole world
BUT, I'm so very sure that,
my own light guiding
I'll reach the summit on time.

© Comfort Ndlovu, 10 February 2020.

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SONGBIRD by SAMANTHA NOMASWAZI

SAMANTHA NOMASWAZI NUNU S ongbird! B eautiful hymns, you sing Deep into my soul, Your sonorous voice Melts away all the ice ...