To my librarian
bones, gifts under the tongue Mamphela Rampele.
call me woman Mhudi, woman at point zero.
no sweetness here: seeing voices hearing visions, nervous conditions,
things fall apart and they didn't die.
the shadow of Imana, the black insider, the famished road, the wrath of the ancestors
the quiet violence of dreams, the screaming of the innocent.
weep not child, love child, these things happen.
when rain clouds gather: head above water, desperate, never been at home
Muriel at Metropolitan juggling truths living, loving and lying awake at night
a life's mosaic.
so long a letter I write what I like, blame me on history.
petals of blood, flames of fury, soul fire!
Gods of our time, The emperor, Underground people
It all begins differently each time,
drawn in colour on covers: titles, authors' names, publishers, isbn numbers.
My librarian knows it all
I watch her smile, wish I could read her mind
Her voice never high, her searches have results
If not what I wanted, an even better suggestion
Ume njalo my librarian Oh, if I could sing…
bones, gifts under the tongue Mamphela Rampele.
call me woman Mhudi, woman at point zero.
no sweetness here: seeing voices hearing visions, nervous conditions,
things fall apart and they didn't die.
the shadow of Imana, the black insider, the famished road, the wrath of the ancestors
the quiet violence of dreams, the screaming of the innocent.
weep not child, love child, these things happen.
when rain clouds gather: head above water, desperate, never been at home
Muriel at Metropolitan juggling truths living, loving and lying awake at night
a life's mosaic.
so long a letter I write what I like, blame me on history.
petals of blood, flames of fury, soul fire!
Gods of our time, The emperor, Underground people
It all begins differently each time,
drawn in colour on covers: titles, authors' names, publishers, isbn numbers.
My librarian opened doors
to books I have known and books I have loved
to worlds I never knew and worlds I wish I knew
At each encounter these hands receive and say
My librarian, this way I salute you, in our lifetime.
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