Issue 04

From Malikhanye

By MXOLISI NYEZWA

 

for my son malikhanye liyema nyezwa
who died on 2 august 2007 aged 3 months

how do i say this, that once your eyes were like topaz
and your heart clean as jasmine
in the dense forests i follow the black traces of your lashes
in the empty memory of lost time
my feet tumble against cold hope

From Malikhanye
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City

By MXOLISI NYEZWA

i have lived to discover a city, an open road,
a bucket of milk, and two gentle doves.
i have discovered in myself
two frightened birds with miles of dirt road to fly.

in the forest hills spiders and black dogs clamoured.
in the corpses of yellow flowers
a rainbow spun across a darkened sky.

i lived in a street where girls with dark eyes sang,
birds with their wings welcomed a harsh rain.

 

 

Mxolisi Nyezwa is founder and editor of Kotaz, now in its fourteenth year.

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City
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