literature

habari njema - from the lips of bright strangers

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sweetwildlight's avatar
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Literature Text

you can lick your lips all you want, they'll stay just as chapped as in the valley.
all the children covered you, dripping from your sides and fingers
with skinny scabbed legs the color of mud three inches deep sunk.
you came with the dark rain, breathing fields of mile-high maize and sugar cane.
the children named you for the harvest time; "nekeza" was in their mouths behind the dancing...
the month of june was written on your hands and feet and the sun was green behind your eyelids.
would you let yourself be sown? your toes and shins and knees
could be the roots of a nation, blossoming between your lips.
the words you speak will be twisted, growing taller than your body
then plucked by dirty fingers, dirty hands. you can lick your lips all you want
with a tongue just as parched, because in the valley you gave yourself away,
and your words will feed the village; so keep singing your sugar cane songs.
...oh mumias.
© 2012 - 2024 sweetwildlight
Comments3
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DBAFcreator's avatar
ah..... so what is its summary?