Nate Gwenambira
whose pound of flesh?
we were naïve enough to sell our
souls in droves
for a freedom that never came.
the euphoria ran high and a deluge of
tasteless rhetoric came
but the colonial shackles never
came off. they are still clinging to our
thin ankles.
each year we memorised a new
manifesto
hoping we could one day
breathe the African air we had envisaged,
one that is unpolluted by the
stench from the blood of one of our
own.
now whose pound of flesh must
we give away to get our freedom back?
limb from limb
we are a continent of contradictions
with delusions of freedom
so be mindful of your speech
lest you be found dumped in a ditch
with your anus stitched up
or
strangled by a violent grip
or
your eye sockets gouged out with a toothpick
or
your vagina plowed by a gun's
erection (not a euphemism)
or
find your toddler's beheaded rag dolls
on your corridor floor
to remind you of the mirage
that freedom is.
limbs for freedom
we chose to trade off our
limbs for a freedom we were
promised
but freedom's humongous forearms
are forever raised, ready to
pummel us, lest our voices become
too loud.
Nate Gwenambira is a poet from Harare, Zimbabwe. His interests include poetry, music and research. His favorite authors are Brian Chikwava and Dambudzo Marechera.
