1. VOICES OF THIS TIME
EXALTING HIS NAME
Hear them exalting your name
Hear the hypocrites wailing
Moaning more than the bereaved
Fret not for we are writing the stories
We shall sing these songs of the truth
That they seek to trash your memory
We know your soul was not for sale
The vultures cannot have anything
There is no carrion for them here
These opportunists shall face shame
CORN AND CHAFF
Not every dark cloud bears rain
Not all that glitters is gold
Not every laugh is heart felt
Take heed of these time tested words
Behind some smiles are snarls
Behind most promises are lies
Behind those tears are hungry crocodiles
Waiting to devour you at every turn
Learn these lessons well children
Pretenders mourn more than the bereaved
Immerse yourself in Socratic skepticism
Question the closeness of the closest kith and kin
Some try to take the morsel from your mouths
Others fight relentlessly for divisions
Taking the warm ambers from your hearth
Listen my children, listen to my guidance
Separate now the chaff from the corn
YOUR TONGUE
Then your tongue you wagged

2. Like the tail of a bitch on heat
Your weird suspicions became fact
Like a village imp you pissed in the well
Like an eagle you swooped on the chicks
Now the scars are indelible
You even broke the witches code
That venom in your ill chosen words
That venom in your indiscretion
You chose to forget those lessons of old
Those lessons of old about the tongue
SHELL SHOCKED
The stench of unbridled greed
Fouls that relationship forever
That smoke stings my eyes
The battle lines are drawn
We all are smote brutally
That is the stench of avarice
LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE
When what has been hidden
From the wise and the prudent
Has been revealed to the babe and the suckling
When the cupboards can no longer hold the skeletons
When those stories are told
When the seditious songs are sung
That is when this winter is gone
When there is the glamour and glitter of summer
That shall be the healing of this nation
The fear of the truth shall be gone
When the unrepentant shall repent
That shall be the healing of the nation
That is when the lessons of the future are drawn
Drawn from the tragedies of the past
OUT OF THE ASHES
Behind this trail of destruction
That hope refuses to die
That revolution of old lives on
The spirits of this land live on

3. Everything now derailed shall be back on track
Opportunists’ names shall be put to shame
Those that profane that sacred blood
The raving and the ranting mad men
All the murderers, liars and prostitutes
Posterity shall learn these lessons
That is the bitter path to nation building
SINGING TRIUMPHANTLY
When my conscience speaks
I shall bear the pain
Bear this pain stoically
I shall fear no evil
Lucifer seems to hold sway here
My soul is not for sale
Though they may deny me bail
Never behind my mother’ skirts
Will I cower and hide
I shall fear no evil
The devil is not my master
I see through their evil schemes
My creator has made me this way
These demonic forces cannot hold sway
Their evil schemes shall crumble
The wind the chaff shall blow away
The wax that melteth before the fire
I shall sing this song triumphantly
AT THE DEVIL’S BANQUET
What stories will you leave behind
What name will your children carry
When you trash our sacred institutions
When you seek cheap gratification
Dragging your name through shame
Through the murky waters of shame
Listen to that voice deep inside you
That voice warning you against evil schemes
Listen you disciple of macchiavelli
Stop those devilish human sacrifices
Now you shall bear the mark of the beast
The persecuted shall not be alone in pain

4. ANOTHER VICTIM
Then we are told
The snake was there
Weaving a yarn for woman
Then she fell first
The snake’s charm
The slithering python
The goat under hypnosis
Those great grinding coils
The moth in a fatal dance
Dazzled by the flame
The fatal attraction
That is our demise
A trail of broken hearts
Just like a fountain
That wheel turns full circle
INDICTING THE SYSTEM
With my keen mind I saw it
That tragicomedy
The sacrificial lambs
To the slaughter they went
Basic tenets of justice trashed
I say it with neither fear nor favour
What presumption of innocence
Expediency at the centre
Mercenaries there everywhere
Question the impartiality of the bench
Lavishly fed and accommodated
That obscene grandiloquence
That shameful profligacy
Obvious outcomes exhibited
What an indictment of the system
DEVIL’S MEAL
When you wine and dine
Wine and dine with the devil
Some day you may be the devil’s meal
Listen carefully and you will hear

5. Wisdom is there in the simplest of places
Subject the down trodden at your peril
The fruits of your injustice are your misery
The wailing of the persecuted will nag you
OF THISTLES AND THORNS
This fight is on
It is not for the faint hearted
It is not for the cowards
Comfortable behind their mothers’ skirts
It is a protracted fight
Against the despots
It is a class struggle
Their shameless greed
And the maintenance of the status quo
Today cast off the steel yoke
Cast off the shackles and chains
Cast off mind warping religions
This is no God ordained order
Shove into an abyss warped ideas
Make the ultimate sacrifice
Fear not the bruises
For the way is thistle and thorn laden
TO AN OUTLAW
Of those whoring perceptions rid yourself
Rid yourself of the gold digger mentality
This man can never be a gold mine
There always for your exploitation
The idea of enlightened self interest practise
Life is worth more than silver and gold
This very, very simple lesson learn now
Your mind cast far and wide
Look , why do you set this granary on fire
That veil from your mind’s eye wrench
From your mind wrench the thinking of a harlot
BATTLE HARDENED
Out of great heat and pressure
The diamonds emerge

6. The hotter the battle the sweeter the victory
In this my blood the warriors live
Fighting those battles of old
Listen I have been through it before
With the same ferocity I shall fight
My head shall not be delivered on a plate
Those evil schemes shall not be forever
Goodness shall triumph over evil
That is when the hunter is hunted
DISCIPLES OF LUCIFER
Fire and brimstone
Thunder and lighting
This shitstem shall fall
Wickedness shall not prevail
My people continue to wail
Lord you have the power
Pharaoh in Egypt saw it
These evil men must see it
Today evil may seem to triumph
Shake the system by its roots
The sun now must set on them
Give these evil men an earthquake
Unleash all the elements against them
These disciples of the fallen Lucifer
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Music to my ears
That lecture
Bare it all
Take off that veil
Tell posterity
About the stolen stories
Sing those songs
Avoid oblivion
That counterfeit history
Down into the trash can

7. Say it loud and clear
That all may hear
Admired even by foes
That mighty force
Those vain attempts
To feed us on garbage
Look at the futility
Those spirits speak
BURNING ILLUSIONS
The truth lives
Rising sphinx like
From the mounds of lies
The resilience of it
There for all to see
Their pretended greatness
Opportunists stories
Exaggerated victories
Now we know the truth!
[Hey we have always known it]
TINY FIST
Mind’s eye and ear fouled
The verbal diarrhoea
The arrogance exhibited
That nationalism trampled
See the backwardness
All you international citizens
Opportunists galore
Black oppressors, white oppressors
What is the difference
This is my tiny fist
Bullies wince in agony
The meek are not weak
Those stories of old
And today’ stories
That is our liberty

8. OF KITH AND KIN
At the centre of it all
That lust
Unbridled lust for money
The myopic mindedness
Shocking ungratefulness
All the madness
The transmogrification
From in law to outlaw
The stench of a slut
Look out children
Monsters may devour you
Masquerading as kith and kin
The wolves in sheepskin
Take this Socratic skepticism
Question their love
APPRECIATING LIGHT
Now we take stock
The chaff from the corn
Those stories of old
There is the resilience
The trauma of this rape
Today the broken pieces we pick
To lose hope is too costly
The victims cannot apologise
The villains must pay
Now heal this land
Appreciate this light from darkness
The oppressed yearn for freedom
Unsustainable are these falsehoods
Imminent is the demise of the opportunists
Profaning our sacrosanct struggle
Now see this agitation
They cling to clan, tribe, retrogression
Lessons learnt from forces of darkness
Where are the liberators of old

9. CROCODILE COURTS
Then I looked around
This was not Australia
Did not see kangaroos
Then to the Limpopo river
Man eating crocodiles everywhere
Crocodile courts-that was apposite
For many were mauled and devoured
The unfolding tragicomedy
AFTER THE VERBAL DIARRHOEA
Man born of woman
Show me your four balls
Then I will run for dear life
Never will I cower
Cower behind my mother’ skirts
Never will I eat shit
Never will I drink urine
Those insults you hurl at me
Blaming me for your failures
The warrior spirits rise
Rising against your vain pride
Rising against your vain glory
Shattering the myths of your invincibility
This militancy is against your backwardness
The bullies will never hold sway
This warrior spirit shall be forever
DIVINE INTERVENTION AGAIN
The invincibility of Pharaoh
Ask Moses about it
It was just another myth
Our creator is the mighty one
Learn those lessons of old
The children of Israel on the move
What did it take Pharaoh to relent
Behind recurrent droughts our liberty!

10. BADGES OF BATTLE
That path is charted
Divinely ordained it is
Those ordeals and tribulations
Serving the apprenticeships
What is to be has got to be
Stand in the way of destiny?
The scars are the badges
Wear them proudly revolutionaries
Freedom on a silver platter is a myth
Take a closer look back
There are no stories of cowardice
Sons and daughters forever are cursed
Can the descendants of Nyathi walk tall?
Not one can hide behind a finger
This fight is on forever
Posterity shall know the heroic exploits
Cowardice can never be a virtue
Like Socrates drinking hemlock I shall be
Die your many deaths, coward
Dabble in self censorship I shall not
Proudly wear the badges of battle I shall
TRAMPLED RIDERS
The horse tramples the riders
Now is pay back time
The rider’s ingratitude
The scars from the whip
Rider and his baggage were enough
The rider invited other riders
Then the burden became too much
Down in the dust goes the riders
That is the price to be paid
[66 strangling the nation]
SADOMASOCHISM

11. This brutality
This sadomasochism
Is this an art
Is this a science
The erstwhile system’s ways
What lessons have we learnt
Perfecting the barbarism
The root of this violence
This profanation of life
Wake up now women and men of conscience
VICIOUS CIRCLE
Then they stock the fires
The fires of feuding
Our institutions severely battered
Their economies in bloom
Our lives face certain doom
Then they make an about turn
We sign their peace treaties
Then they end their wars
See their economies bloom
Their reconstruction programmes
The de-mining exercises
Cast away cloaks of gullibility
66 OR IS IT 666
The mark of the beast
The number 666
Let the discerning mind see
Those that choose blindness
The curse they shall bear
See the time is nigh
It was so in the days past
Ignore prophecy at your peril

12. THE COLOUR OF VIOLENCE
The indelible brutality
Shackles and chains of enslavement
The aftermath of the Berlin conference
Their order out of their chaos
The roots of colonialism
That fight is still on
The stifling neo-colonialism
Add to this the home grown violence
What is the colour of violence
Is it better when it is black
Is it better when it is white
See their obscene privileges
See the crippling and grinding poverty
Now is the time to remove the blinkers
Answer me: what is the colour of violence
DEVIL WORSHIPPERS
Listen now children
Love Socratic skepticism
Go beyond those smiles
Go beyond sharing surnames
Go beyond sharing totems
To siphon what little you have
They claim to be your close relatives
Children you are warned
See their unbridled love for money
The worshippers of the devil
Their love has a heavy price
THE RESPONSE
The response was swift
The immense brutality
They dared to challenge the shitstem
Daring to challenge the minotaur
There followed the decapitations
There followed the bayoneting
The masses were at it again

13. They were at tether’s end
Then that righteous fight was on
That brutality deterred no one
Victoriously they marched on
There is no pride in badges of cowardice
OUR MEMORIES
We should not write these songs
We should not tell these stories
Do not recite these poems at all
Those stories, songs, poems in the carvings
Our memories are seditious to them
Our memories are treasonous to them
They relentlessly seek their obliteration
Listen to what they ask us:
Why do you talk of slavery?
Why do you talk of colonialism?
Why do you talk always of neo-colonialism?
See the protracted assault on our minds
Hear the reverberations of our liberation
TO A GOBLIN
Just another goblin
A shrieking vampire
Insatiable blood sucking
Just another gold digger
Then I saw your evil scheme
Then the truth smote you
You, just another bad memory
Wallow now in your soullessness
Face eternal torment, vampire!
TO A LEECH
Reaping where you did not sow
Get off my back you leech
Get off my back you louse
You seek to leave my granary empty

14. Asking me to give even what I don’t have
With your insatiable appetite for wealth
Drown then in this your heartlessness
Silver and gold for you I have none
Chase then after the wind rabid dog
Bark then foolish dog at the flying bird
INTROSPECTION
Fervently saying those prayers
Saying prayers to the devil
This feuding in the family
Riddled by petty jealousies
Loose tongues spreading rumours
See these undeclared wars
The unbridled desire to manipulate
Who will make the first move
See the ominous deep chasms
Is it the yoke of poverty on our necks
Then they say the creator worked for six days
Some want to rest for six days
Is there pride and dignity in begging
Go sluggard watch the ants at work
The family fabric torn to shreds
That unbridled desire for material prosperity
That scythe of hatred shall be stopped
That legacy of feuding shall stop
OPPORTUNISTS AT WORK
Are these the nationalists
That made the supreme sacrifice
Held in solitary confinement in jails
Assassinated, napalm bombed in those days
Those that challenged the white supremacy
Are these the nationalists
Now fanning tribal supremacy
Vying for power by any means
Propagating this culture of violence
Are these the nationalists
Revolutionaries leading us into an abyss
Leaving behind a legacy of tribal conflict
Those bloody lessons were more than enough
What is the root of this tribal supremacy
What is the root of this racial supremacy

15. DEPENDENCY SYNDROME
The heinous falsehoods
These ominous chasms
Blood congealing petty jealousies
And now these shreds
These deep septic wounds
At each other’s throats
Saying prayers to the devil
Forsaking our creator’s ways
That rest came on the seventh day
Go sluggard watch the ants
Where is the beggar’s pride
By the sweat of your own brows
Fill your granary now
Learn lessons from proverbs
These lessons shall light your way
SOMETHING DIED
Chained to that bed
That hospital bed
Held captive by pain
That agile mind
Through the hypocrisy
My x ray mind
These indelible lessons
The treasure of bitterness
I saw through those schemes
Listen my children, listen
Then something died in me
Will it ever be resurrected?
I have built this dam
Is the dam wall strong
The current surges forward
Did I learn my lessons well
‘Speak tongue’s lash
on the naked buttocks of silence’
Then they are jittery
This is the torrent of my blows

16. THAT TIME
When the stories are told
Emerging from under the mounds
The mounds of half truths
When those songs are sung
Sweet melodies above discordant voices
When those sculptures are unveiled
Shattering veils of conservatism
Will you be on the firm ground of progress
Will you wallow in shame and regret
Raise your hand if you have a conscience
The future is built today
This is a question of choice
Now is the time for those songs
Those poems, the novels now surface
This nation cannot afford malnourishment
Read Ecclesiastes now narcissus
BEYOND
Look beyond the fighter planes
Imported at the expense of food
Look beyond the water cannons
Imported to quell popular uprising
Against the ways of the insane
Look beyond repressive legislation
Crafted to fight against the truth
There is my people’s resilience
There lies our limitless hope
In this struggle lies our greatness
WAR ON MEMORIES
Dabbling in this dirty business
Of trying to erase memories
Driven not by love for peace
But misplaced status quo maintenance
They are still at it unashamedly

17. Their dangerous divide and rule tactics
Don’t teach your children about slavery
All talk about colonialism is retrogressive
Zimbabweans talk not about slavery
That is what is drummed into us
Cheer up you fought gallantly against colonialism
Conveniently they choose to forget of the effects
WAILING DREAMS
Dreams of eJozi
Dreams of the glamour and glitter
Of the streets of Joburg
Dreams now in the bellies of crocodiles
In the dark, dank depths of the watery abyss
Dreams turned into nightmares
Now languishing in Lindela
Waiting for the deportation trucks
Dreams of mother’s milk long run dry
Dreams, dreams, dreams of home
This land
Just my piece of the earth
for me to raise my race
For me to grow my food
Just my piece of the earth
for me to forge my destiny
for me to hold my head high
for my links with my spirits
Just this my piece of the earth
Take your trinkets to the west
Take your trinkets to the east
My future will not have your poison
STORIES OF OLD
Not with a sharp sword
Not with a shield
That fight is still on

18. Might is not always right
I shall fear no evil
My creator is my health and my strength
Those were the days of the sling and the stone
These are the days of stories of old
VICTORY
Satan’s forces at work
Shall not be victorious
Mine is a mighty creator
Though they dig pits in my way
Strike at me with their bows and arrows
That righteous fight shall be fought
Forces of light shall hold sway
Listen to the trumpets of triumph
The fallen angel Lucifer has fallen
Hear the thud of that eternal fall
Wickedness has been vanquished now
That innocent blood they shed
Fight viciously like an avenging spirit
Forces of darkness can never triumph
THAT SPIRIT
This is an old fight
With new fighters
Anyway what is new
When the old fighters live in me
That is undiluted reality
No need to fret myself
That spirit was there
Then it met its end
These hands have held that spear
Those warriors of old live
Fighting again and again
That spirit was there
That mighty force defeated it
Defeat is written all over its face
LESSONS AGAIN FOR MY CHILDREN

19. They are not my kith and kin
All they want is money
Enjoying the bread of my sweat, tears and blood
That is all they do
Behind all those plastic smiles
Their very heavy hearts
Asking me to give what I don’t have
They have no love at all
Learn these lessons my children
AWE INSPIRING
Give thanks and praises
To the Almighty
Exalt his name
For he is the mighty one
The creator of the universe
The greatest of forces
The maker of all forms of life
The awe inspiring one
The king of kings, lord of lords
The redeemer, the greatest judge
Forgiver of proponents of evolution
That mindless philosophy of the devil
That negation of the force of creation
Exalt his name O children
One whose greatness lies in simplicity
Give thanks and praises to love
For God almighty is love
The source of the rivers of love
Transcending the chasms of doctrines
Give thanks and praises to this greatness
This unimaginable greatness
NEW FOCAL POINT
When America mourns
The world should mourn
When its American bliss
The world should wince

20. That is the way of life
Remember Vietnam, Remember September 11
ROTTEN RELATIONSHIPS
Beneath those bland smiles
This still sad song
Beneath those celebrations
See their pyrrhic victory
Disciples of Judas Iscariot
Those blood coated pieces of silver
Aftermaths of unbridled avarice
Maggots feed on that relationship
Feel that emptiness deep inside
That prostitute like desire for wealth
About the size of my wallet you fretted
Then I was smote by your greed
Now I know where my bred is buttered
This is the exorcism time
The extirpation of your wickedness
Forsaking time tested wisdom
Look your demise is at hand
POISON IN THE WELL
Then it was a few caustic words
Did you look beyond them then
This bitterness lasts forever
Time has not healed this wound
You saw the speck in my eye
That log you still have in your eye
Your lunacy was at its height
You looked for comfort in collective misery
Forgive me for I cannot forgive you
You poisoned the well I drink from
There is the bitterness etched in my mind
Will time heal this wound?

21. TO KHULU
That man
For a small gift
The profuse thanks
Showers of blessings
Or is it a deluge of them
Choosing modesty
Forsaking mindless ostentation
Seeing no virtue in begging
That man
TRUSTING THEM
The Judas kiss
Thirty pieces of silver
That betrayal
Today the cross is revered
That coat of many colours
Joseph sold into captivity
Heart rending wails of his father
Then the brothers saved
Samson on a mission
There Delilah was
His body and soul caressed
Eyes plucked out by villains
What then is new
Why should I wail
That story of old is retold
Like Solomon I ask for wisdom
DAUGHTERS FOR SALE
Give them money
Satisfy their lust
Is it satiable
A yearning for more
By any means necessary

22. Instead of daughters they see dollars
The highest bidder takes the prize
My naivety ruled then
Now I know the truth
The tell tale signs were there
Why did I proceed against a red robot
Pay dearly I must for this recklessness
MONSTERS IN LAW
Monsters in law
Their love for wealth
That foul stench
The nostrils pervading
Monsters in law
That story of prostitution
That unbridled greed
Then I did not take heed
That tainted blood
Exorcise that evil spirit
BATED BREATH
We now know them
Know them for defying logic
These shameless opportunists
Those that rode on your backs
Those that still ride on our backs
Trying still to trash our memories
Theirs are pyrrhic victories
We shall always remember
Our children’s children shall know
These muffled stories shall be told
These dwarfs masquerading as giants
EARTH’S LAMENT
Did I not feed, clothe
and shelter your fore parents
Have I not done the same for you
Now that you brutalise me this way

23. Do you have love for posterity
What greed grips you like this
What is the root of your selfishness
Is it the maddening profit motive
The smog that stunts tree growth
The few trees that remain
As your chain saws and axes
Reduce forests into plains
The raging forest fires you start
The nuclear waste you dump
The effluent filling the rivers
The streams and other water sources
You wantonly destroy wild life
How do you lay claim to superiority
When most of your plans bring destruction
What makes you shit and piss in my face
Learn lessons of enlightened self interest
HANGOVER STILL
Those lessons did not take root
When will they learn
Then it was a hot stone
Then it was Vaseline or cooking oil
They are at it still today
Running in vain away from themselves
That kinky hair branded a curse
When will our people be themselves
Foreign industries capitalize on foolishness
When will they learn to love themselves
EXILE AFTERMATHS
Then from exile they returned
The liberators among them
Among them the opportunists
The autochtonous watched in awe
A new dawn on the horizon
But the foolishness was evident
The baffling eurocentric perceptions
Then this society was mesmerized
Deep divisions then set in
Families were flung helter skelter
Then the thick smoke blinded us

24. Is a repeat performance on the way
What will they bring from the diaspora
DEATH THE LOSER
And then we close this chapter
With the thud of picks
And the scrapping of shovels
In thought we bury ourselves
That man feels no more pain
Death you are not a victor
For the spirit is not vanquished
NO MORE STIGMA
Then I waved the flies
from off your face
That you could do no more
Was that a smile on your face
A smile in your death
A smile wrought by death
A whirlpool engulfs me
What is this turbulence
Step forward you children
The children of the slain bull
That seed was dispersed
Therein lay your demise
Is there room for secrets
Enjoying the warmth of denial
What is the root of all this
This stigmatization baffling us
My salute to your bravery
Rest then among our kith and kin
The spirits of the land welcome you
TRIGGERED THOUGHTS
That persecution
At the root of it
I think it was tribalism

25. Sithokozile
That was a time of joy
Those forces were latent
Today I see the sad tale
Those souls wailed
I Solani!
The relentless persecution
That time of exhortation: Jabulani
Now I know the truth
Still they were at it
His own kith and kin
Till he asked : Siyephi?
Somewhere the truth concealed
The benevolence of those souls
Zandile – the conundrum
THE LAST DIARY
That invasion of your privacy
Was keeping the diary therapeutic
Those pages of deep bitterness
The regrets that yearned to surface
Then you followed the soap bubble
The spirits of our fathers called you
The tale behind the tale was sad
Simply you expressed your loneliness
Enough pain you countenanced
The creator accorded you rest
BABYLON THE BITCH
Babylon the harlot
Now is the time to pay
Those crimes against humanity

26. My people in shackles and chains
Dying and tossed into the Atlantic
The auctioning of my people
Worse than the auctioning of livestock
Babylon the whore
My people colonized
Still wallowing in the chasms
The bayonet thrusts of denigration
Babylon your days are numbered
Africa now unites against your ways
My people have to be free now
TO ANOTHER SON OF THE SOIL
Behind the question
The scorpion sting
Venomous viper’ fangs
In the answer the humility
Shunning the ostentation
That trap evading
That journalist asked
Today I remember
How do you want to be remembered
Today they trample your memory
The strippers are at it
Stripping away your dignity
Today your memory is up for sale
Those schemes cannot succeed
MY SHARE
Just a piece of pure gold
Just one piece of an uncut diamond
What about a piece of platinum
That son of Africa in the diaspora
He wailed in that song of revolution
‘Africa is the richest place
But now is home to the poorest race’
Impoverished by gluttonous Europe
Impoverished by the local crooks
Leaving us fighting over the crumbs
Leaving us with holes in the ground
See the big fight behind this humility

27. New African page 48 June 2006 number 452 Femi Akomolafe
‘It is sad to see that while the Europeans who erected the borders on our
continent are dismantling their own borders we in Africa are still holding
tenaciously to our artificial inheritance’
TSUNAMI
That liquid snake struck
Snatching children from parents
Devouring husbands and wives
Leaving nations in deep grief
Leaving the world in mourning
A trail of disaster in its wake
That liquid bomb exploded
Reducing buildings to rubble
The years of toil gone in seconds
Plunging people into destitution
Thousands rendered homeless
Listen to the religious explanations
Listen to the scientific explanations
It is all mind blowing
GETTING THE CROWN
Up in the sky
The milky way
In my mother’s kitchen hut
By the lively hearth
The spontaneous outpouring
Your hopes, fears and dreams
Then I open up
Then you also open up
The ways of my ancestors
The ways of our fore fathers
In this age of one dimension
These are the invaluable lessons
These lessons of my spirituality
The roots are deeply embedded

28. SOLIDARITY
Listen African woman
The blood of your fore fathers wails
For you have betrayed them
Drop the white hoods and the white gowns
The symbols of the devil’s purity
Today you prop that miscreant
Pounding to pulp the Palestinians
Denying them those fundamental rights
You prop that illegitimate state
Listen now African woman
Your kith and kin in subjugation
There is a paltry price for your soul
You wine and dine with the devil
THE FUTURE IS NOW
Keep your mind’s eye open
That journey long began
Through the past, present and future
Through verse, stories shall be told
Through the past the future we shall know
The pages of potent poetry unlock the mysteries
Posterity shall know these trials and tribulations
Those orgies of senseless killings
That desire to establish tribal hegemony
Forever etched in our minds these stories are
In the verses are our songs of triumph
That refusal to wallow in despondency
Verses written in our rebellious blood
Hear the potent push of prancing poetry
Instilling the consciousness of self liberators
In the end light triumphs over darkness
These muffled voices shall shout triumphantly
No more shall our memories be subversive
No more shall our dreams be seditious
This journey shall be long
This train shall never be derailed
SPIRITUAL FOOD

29. This well
This fountain
It should never run dry
Let the children drink
This tree
Planted by the rivers of water
The fruits it should bear
The children should not starve
See this barrenness
The devils running riot
The dangerous games
Tell the children the truth
EMACIATED SOULS
What demonic spirit is this
What devilish creature is this
Holding my people in its tentacles
What snare is this tightly holding them
What is the root of this derangement
They cling to esoteric religions
Drinking dirty water by the road sides
Exhibiting their shameful emaciated bodies
These lost sheep no shepherd can redeem
What is the root of this brain bleaching
What is the root of this death wish
What is the root of this foul stench
Give me the answers now you fathers
Give me the answers now you mothers
How many more should perish this way
SO WHO SHALL I FEAR
This stalemate
Nauseating stalemate
At daggers drawn
How long shall we be at it
The clash of steel
The full blooded fight
The victors and villains

30. The fight should end
The fight should continue
That is the essence of life
THIS TIME FOR THE UMPTEENTH
TIME
This ailing nation
This wailing widow
This desolation
Rampaging desperation
Today I pray
Join me in this prayer
Time for divine intervention
That time is nigh
NO LONGER UNDER THE MOUNDS
The excruciating pain
Under the mounds of lies
The pastors’ lies
The politicians’ lies
The stench of it all
Those shacks are products of lies
That dirty water we drink
We, the victims of the lies
The vain attempts to warp the truth
The true stories are to be told now
The cherished values are resilient
Not one liar can hold back this time
Now is the truth’s time
THE NOW TIME
The writing on the wall

31. The rabid dog was at it
Full on their father’s food
Biting and biting the children
Rabies spreading without hindrance
The moment demanded decision
Was I to shrug shoulders indifferently
Was I to sit down and count my losses
Was I not right to deliver the fatal blow
ANOTHER SOUL FOR SALE
Brother has it come to that
That you lick arse for survival
Those lessons you ditched
Eat the bread of the sweat of your brows
You have chosen that path
Walking along the path of shamelessness
The price for your soul is paltry
A few pieces of gold and silver
See your unbridled love for wealth
So brother you have turned traitor
That sacrosanct blood wails
You walk on unperturbed at all
That dirty wealth blinds you
This misery you no longer see
So you have prostituted your soul
Now you have to see the light
KU KLAX KLAN AT IT
Behind the farce, the charade
Behind the convulsions and stiffness
behind that body drained of life
The ku lax klan at it
Perhaps tired of the blood of blacks
Now sucking the blood of Arabs
The unbridled desire for hegemony
The dangerous myth about weapons
Imagined weapons of mass destruction
The desire to control the oil fields
See the baffling hypocrisy
True, that man was no saint

32. The American shitstem is not saintly either
The vampires have to perish now
A mortal blow must be delivered now
Babylon must never know peace
Look there is the fiery inferno
PEACE TIME
For the blood stained trinkets
The blood of our dispossessed people
The dripping blood of the future
The spirit of Nyathi is not dead
Furiously napalm bombing our people
Traitors there among us
Today I question your justice
See you cling to ill gotten privileges
Turning us into hewers of wood
Condemning us to just drawers of water
Back sliders take leave of us
That fight for justice is still on
The natural consequence is peace
LINES FOR EMELO
Perhaps you drowned your sorrows
In that deluge of tears
A whirlpool of thoughts
My mind embattled
Din of doubt about affection
Cupid’s arrows of hot lead
That is the way of the world
It is the story of beauty and the beast
NOT IN VAIN
Volcanic eruptions of hunger
Violent storms of anger
Foul stench of their self preservation
Erupting thoughts of rebellion
Once deemed seditious now to the fore
These thoughts-your thoughts, mine too

33. These dreams once labeled treasonous
Dreams of a revolution back track
The viciousness of a dying shitstem
The price to be paid is quite high
Have I not told you before
CATACLYSM
Visions of an implosion
Visions of an explosion
Aftermaths of total failure
A looming cataclysm
Look around and see
That prophesied end is nigh
Victims of stolen victories
Then it all seemed succulent
Then you did not listen
Messages abound against the deification
Messages against the personality cult
Messages against the violence
Messages against those ‘isms’
Then you did not listen
See now the casualties
FIRE IN THE MANSION
With all the trinkets
With all the glamour and the glitter
The thick wintry darkness
In the vast mansion
The thud of blows and kicks
The shocking domestic violence
It is not all about wealth
Reverberations of happiness in shacks too
In your plenty can be your want
Startling revelations in the mansion
Violence became a panacea for problems
Social misfits are unleashed onto society
The bitter taste of this stinking wealth
Threats of murder in the mansion
Threats of suicide in the mansion
The trinkets have not guaranteed bliss

34. IN THE GOLDEN CAGE
A captive in the golden cage
That is what you are
Today you pay the price
Where is that easy life
That wealth hypnotized you
Behind it all you do not see the filth
Today it is all those tears
Today it is all that battering
The silver and gold lost its luster
You ran away from real love
Behind the lap of luxury this brute
You ran after the soap bubble
In the sweat of your brows lies liberty
ELBOWED OUT
Out of your life you elbowed me
I tried to be your pillar of strength
You mistook my benevolence for weakness
Now I walk without you
Drown now in your tears of shame
The same dog that bit me yesterday
Today I give it a hefty kick
That story of your past was true
You remain unrepentant to this day
That unbridled love for money
Today you still chase barren winds
Today you chase after illusions
They will toy with your silly mind
They will drive you into depression
Look who will have the last laugh
You dig deep into your whoring mind
The love for wealth is your demise
TO EXILES
A distant cockerel crows
Listen exiles
The birds freely twitter
The crowing of more cockerels

35. It is dawn again
Come back home
That dark hour is over
Come back home exiles
THE SHATTERING OF A MYTH
Dreams of the glamour and glitter
Harvests of illusions
Dreams of a sweet tomorrow
Deep in the watery abyss
Dreams fast turned into nightmares
Now in the bellies of vicious crocodiles
The chocking ashes in the hearth
The once warm hearth at home
Aftermaths of the desire for self preservation
That rift between the gluttons and the hungry
The unimaginable looms in the horizon
Judgement day draws nearer
What was unthinkable takes centre stage
WE AND THEM
I am not asking for alms
For I am no beggar
It is that story again
The story of ‘we’ and ‘them’
How dare you call yourself that
Brother, sister, father, mother?
My food from your trash can
Fighting for survival against stray dogs
You pound my dreams with your hammer
Call it brabas or barabbas
Look now cellphone farmer
Your soap bubble silos are empty
Powered by empty bellies
A revolution this is

36. CALLING FOR DIVINE
INTERVENTION
Give them a beating Lord
For your divine intervention
This is my prayer
The myth of their invincibility
Shatter and scatter them
Teach them those lessons of old
Pharaoh learnt them well
Give them a beating Lord
Your power is plain to see
There in the earthquakes
There in the volcanoes
There in the howling winds
There in the cyclones
Now let them feel it
Give them a beating Lord
CYCLONE GLUTTON
From the turbulent ocean of opportunists
Cyclone glutton has struck
In its wake a trail of destruction
Plain for all to see
The stench of ill gotten wealth
Shameless bragging about it
Multitudes of the hungry
The emaciated children of forgotten folk
Vanishing trucks of scarce grain
Only the small fish bear the brunt
The violent waves of despair
The rich have the match box houses

37. Still in the explosive reserves
While the gluttons have all the land
Smote to smithereens
That altruism we cherished
Cyclone glutton has struck
Leaving us like dazed hens
Like chicks in its steel claws
The present and future seek escape