a naked bone

Mangaliso Buzani

• Publisher: Deep South
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780994710475
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Poesía africana

In simple vocabulary a naked bone describes complex states of beauty and suffering, often at the borderline where life meets death. In their dreamlike rhythms and images, the poems draw strength from Xhosa culture, Christianity, and elements of nature. They are love poems in the widest sense, embracing the interface between daily life and the spiritual, enacting joy and caring in the face of deprivation and mourning.

II

Daily verse

On a dusty gravel road

a half naked child

walks towards a tree

which calls him by his name

Carrying an empty basket

listening from his singing stomach

he meets his sorrows

wrapped with thorns

On the shell of a passing snail

he reads his daily verse

Another 20 years to come

with nothing on the table

Ribs of a leaf

Perhaps I’m the only one

who breaks the frail ribs of a dry leaf

with a size seven shoe

the loud voice of my tiny toes

that disturb a tired ant

on a night shift

a bird who is trying to finish its duty

of counting leaves

my restless breath

that makes a spider

point a finger at me

I wonder

with this filthy heart

will I ever

enter eden again

or must I promise god

with a lot of long prayers

that repeat the same lines

god forgive me

help me throw away my last sin

and remain clean

next to your door

Leaves

Here in the windy town

I go up the stairs accompanied by dry leaves

I look at them as they crawl on the ground

wearing assorted camouflages

They are soldiers here

but nobody besides me

seems to get their attention

as they carpet the steps

I run to the library

and begin to read

A Rage in Harlem

Sick words

sick words are renting

the inside of my head

my soul has become a rude landlord

who always swears at my ears

scaring my bones saying

one day I will throw you outside

Dear doctor

There’s something happening in my head

it feels like maggots eating up my brain

my disappearing brain

headaches today

tomorrow again

Dear doctor

don’t send me away with a pain tablet

there’s something happening inside my head

when winter comes I have to put it in an oven

when summer begins I have to put it in the fridge

The day he left

The old man hears a noise outside his house

kicks off the blankets with his wrinkled feet

and steps on the cold floor

Determined to cause chaos

he leaves his wife behind

begging him not to go outside

With hands of samson

he goes to war

Kneeling on the ground

he pulls igqudu lakhe from under the bed

to kill the intruder

The sound of thunder

doesn’t lessen the strength of his mind

As if god is around

he walks in darkness

wearing no shoes

inside the kitchen

Before he switches the lights on

he falls on his back

crying for help for the last time on earth

He meets his death

among the pots

that have no hands

to help him

The moon has lost its light

I must find a way

to throw these heavy clothes aw...