Cry African Girl

by Handsen Chikowore

Up in the azure sky
Shoots the sun’s rays
Rises to meet another day
Another promise
To me it’s not yet any hope
As each day brings more problems
Which trouble a thirteen year old girl
Setting alight fire early morning
Sweeping the sheets of dust and dirt early morning
A beast of burden for firewood so I am bound

All those long distances I have to walk
A throbbing ever throbbing pain to my foot
With the baby clinging on my yonder back
The thorn infested forests
The meandering long walks to boreholes and wells
The back breaking dreary buckets full of water
It's so tiresome my body sweats
It's so punishing my body cannot endure

All African girls
Cry for your rights
The rape, torture and victimisation
Our life an eerie furnace of denied paradise
A sad song of denied education
I am so weary, Oh weary, So weary
A breath for fresh air cometh not
Don’t fall African girls
Up and fight
Yearn for another life

A Decade of Disaster

by Handsen Chikowore

From the mountain tops where the bulls have been slaughtered
To the valleys where the farmlands have been eroded
There is no safe ground to tread and fresh air to breathe
Even the beautiful site of natural wonders of the world
Have been corrugated by corruption, chaos and confusion
What a waste of resources in a resourceful region?

The rivers that used to soothe our thirsty and hunger
Are now shallow streams we all fear to swim
From the politics of Rhodesia to zombies of Zimbabwe
AIDS, hunger, torture and cholera infiltrated the pathway
One man glued himself to the leadership altar
And thought that he was the only Messiah
Yet he is the cancer that contaminated Zimbabwe

Love

by Handsen Chikowore

You are my destiny and my strong desire
You maintain strong ties and bond between families
And you sow seeds of sympathy and empathy
You drive us to a point of anxiety and excellence
And you prune us like orchard fruits

Even at funerals, you fill us with hope, peace and forgiveness
You also bridge the gap between friends and foes
And germinate roots of trust and togetherness
You are priceless even though you are remote to the majority
When will you fill everyone’s heart to the brim?

Some dream of you but dread your presence
Widows, widowers and wedding bells are all your fruits
Sweetheart, honeymoon and divorce are all your results
Where you fertilise your splendour, there is joy
Where your presence disappears like dew in the morning,
The void is unimaginable, unspeakable and undesirable

Events without Venue

by Handsen Chikowore

When the land was grabbed
The windows of chaos and corruption were left wide open
Whilst the seeds of nepotism was sown everywhere
And the fight was against fruitful farmers
Who made Zimbabwe the bread basket of Africa

In the heart of town and cities
City dwellers were forced to destroy their buildings
As the cyclone “drive away dirt” gripped Zimbabwe
The vulnerable and the weak were left naked

The economy failed to conquer the land seizures
And the dollar collapsed into the deep valley
Whilst the shop shelves were short of goods
The public were left wondering elections
Whether their votes were counted

To be an asylum seeker

by Handsen Chikowore

To be an asylum-seeker is like a jumbo jet
Your presence always creates noise
To be an asylum-seeker is like a media telescope
You are always in the media domain day by day
To be an asylum seeker is like an unwelcome visitor
Your departure date is always asked

To be an asylum seeker is like a cow in the paddock
Your movement and capabilities are strictly limited
To be an asylum seeker is like to be under house arrest
You report every week to the police station
To be an asylum seeker is like an orphan
No one likes to take the burden of protecting you