By Kanute Tangwa aka K(C)anute Tangwa
straw men
chaff men
the eye of the needle
rustics knead the loam and sow
you reap what you sow
thrash grain
harvest pods
pluck beans and nuts
cut cane
throw the dragnet
press vine
reap caoutchouc
………….white buds
………….bananas
fifteen,thirty,hundredfold
for tables, machines and killing fields
blessed are the poor
veins like lianas
meandering from elbow to knuckles
palms parched like earth in drought season
sweltering sweat on burrows lining temples
drab eyes in ageing suckets
six pack of a natural hue
for stomachs grumble for want
chakakaw feet for lack of preening needles
take my yoke
my burden is light
lost in dreams, nothing can materialize
with scarred inflammed lungs waiting for clean-up
as the environment groans
waiting for wiwa
………… for wiwa
but the hangman blurs hope as feet constantly slop on depraved earth
harden not your hearts
straw men
chaff men
congo
straw men
chaff men
niger delta
straw men
chaff men
sudan
straw men
chaff men
yokadouma
straw men
chaff men
ndian
straw men
chaff men
azania
mercy, not sacrifice
zeal from the beat and time of the makwelya
zama zamas in cloistered hovels
…no light
…no water
…no hygiene
…no basics
hold the drill
engineer the boring
for black gold to gush
for rare earth elements to rear
…waiting for tankers ashore
……………..for trains snaking rumbling clickety clacking downstream
dry bones shall rise again
