Poetry

By

Mbizo Chirasha

IDENTITY APPLES

I am a fat skeleton, resurrecting
from the sad memories of dada
and dark mysteries of aminism
I am buganda
I bleed hope
I drip the honey of fortune
Makerere, think tank of Africa
I dance with you wakimbizi dance

I am tanganyika
I smell and fester with the smoke of African genesis
I am the beginning
Kilimanjaro the anthill of rituals

I am the smile of Africa
my glee erase the deception of sadness
my tooth bling freedom
I am myself, I am Gambia

when others seep with bullets stuck in their stomachs
I sneeze copper spoons from my mouth every dawn
I am the the Colombia of Africa

I am the Cinderella of Africa
where mediums feast with the ghost of kamuzu in mulange trees
here spirits walk naked and free
I am the land of sensations
I am the land of reactions
coughing forex blues
squandermania
I still smell the scent of Nehanda’s breath
I am African renaissance blooming
I stink the soot of chimurenga
I am the mute laughter of Njelele hills

I am Soweto
swallowed by kwaito and gong
I am a decade of wrong and gong
I am blister of freedom vomited from the belly of apartheid
I see the dawn of the coming sun in Madiba’s eyebrows

I am Abuja
blast furnace of corruption
Nigeria, the Jerusalem of noblemen, priests, professors and prophets

I am guinea I bling with African floridarization

I am blessed with many tongues
my thighs washed by River Nile
I am the mystery of pyramids
I am the graffiti of Nefertiti
I am the rich breast of nzinga

I am Switzerland of Africa
the rhythm of Kalahari sunset
the rhyme of Sahara, yapping, yelping
I am Damara, I am Herero, I am Nama,
I am Lozi, I am Vambo

I am bitterness, I am sweetness
I am Liberia

I am King Kongo
Mobutu roasted my diamonds into the stink of deep brown blisters
frying daughters in corruption microwaves
souls swallowed by the beat of Ndombolo and the wind of rhumba
I am the Paris of Africa
I see my wounds

I am rhythm of beauty
I am Congo
I am Bantu
I am Jola
I am Mandinga

I sing of you
I sing thixo
I sing of Ogun
I sing of God
I sing of Tshaka
I sing of Jesus

I sing of children
of Garangaja and Banyamulenge
whose sun is dozing in the mist of poverty
I am the ghost of Mombasa
I am the virginity of Nyanza

I am scarlet face of Mandinga
I am cherry lips of Buganda

come Sankara, come Wagadugu
I am Msiri of garangadze kingdom
my heart beat under rhythm of words and dance
I am the dead in the trees blowing with wind,
I can not be deleted by civilization.
I am not kaffir, I am not Khoisan

I am the sun breaking from the villages of the east with great inspiration of revolutions
its fingers caressing the bloom of hibiscus

liberation!

Mbizo Chirasha

Mbizo Chirasha The Black Poet, works as a poet/writer in residence , creative/literary projects expert , poetry festivals manager and performance poet. He is an acclaimed international performances poet and is published in more than 60 journals around the the world, websites, anthologies and literary reviews. He also works as a media relations strategist and consultant.

Mbizo’s Poetry can be found at http://www.mbizotheblackpoet.blogspot.ca/  and blog at http://personalitiesofinspiration.wordpress.com/ also.