LONDEKA MDLULI
For Earth
Show me her savages
The ones whose feet
Bleed on this land of
Animals.
Mercury lives here and there
Are thousands of moons
On her shoulders
And ships docking from ports
Of mongrel stars.
Ukuthwala (carry the weight)
In Nguni, it means to carry,
Carry, the weight of your forefathers names and the cosmics within them.
Carry, the sweat of dead bones that only dared to speak in the language of soil and water,
Carry, the memories weaved into flesh,
Reek of those cattle jokes and farmers
Plant yourselves into the very ground,
the God moon stars thrusted
themselves on.
Carry, what is mine, yours and theirs.
LONDEKA MDLULI is a South African born writer, who is of dual nationality. Though she was born in South Africa, she doesn’t shy away from her Zimbabwean heritage.