no wrinkles can dim

the light

of your smile

it silences

the choirs of confusion

on a stage of fear

your love

devours the towers

of despair

mama

i wish to sit in the lap

of your strength

& enjoy the lullabies

of your compassion

sending my stubborn nightmares to sleep

while my baby-mind

hungers

for the breasts of your wisdom

and my back

dances to a freedom song

that lives in the palm of your hand

as you wield your sharp tongue

to wean me from my plate of ignorance

let me grow to be a man who despises arrogance

if winter days of my life come

i want to find warmth in the rooms

of your laughter

not in the dingy taverns

of this township

that turn family men

into

omadakwane*

izibotho ezingcolile*

drowned in toxic dams of booze

but i want to drink

from mphahlele’s

well of knowledge

tiptoe

behind the immortal lamps

of biko & sankara

illing road

the air

wears

the assorted scents

of umuthi*

battle with fruits

& vegetables

on the pavement

and a tavern

coughs out

drunks

with wet gullets

but dried pockets

isiphithiphithi*

buses swallowing up

black men

& women

from various

places

of exploitation

tauland blues

young men sink

in a tavern corner

with cold bottles of hansa pilsner

deep in the oceans of vodka

they soak their livers

they walk you through

the torn pages

of their lives

glued on empty beer crates

oozing stories of bitterness

stories of dying dreams

and broken families

with cracked lips

clung

to cheap

cigarette

skyf*

skyf

skyf

it’s a solemn

morning

trying

to chase bhabhalazi*

away

*omadakwane – drunkards
*izibotho ezingcolile – dirty drunkards
*umuthi – African medicine
*isiphithiphithi – chaos
*skyf – refers to cigarette or smoke in South African slang
*bhabhalazi – hangover