Image taken from Reeca Travel It breathes and flows Down to the belly Of our city Gaborone. The Segoditshane River Has neither fortune nor fame, Its riverbed is made dead With urban waste and decay. It rests in peace And remains a getaway For crooks and thieves Whose den is in the green. Had GovernmentContinue reading “From the Hills of Gabane”
Category Archives: poetry
15 August 2021
A poem for someone that I used know Her braids veil our faces,Not even the light might peekInto the inevitable touch of lips.There is no seeing in this moment,Only touching, tasting and listeningTo the heart’s drumming.These moments are like the Okavango Delta,Because this river will not reach the sea,Instead it shall congregate in hopes andContinue reading “15 August 2021”
100 times
A few weeks ago, my great grandmother turned one hundred years old. Imagine! The world was a very different place. In commemoration of this momentous occasion, I was asked to write a poem for her to be shared on her birthday. Here’s a live recording of it, but I have included the transcript below forContinue reading “100 times”
The A1* is
A stretch of strangersOn a tattooed tongueOvertaking then overtakenBy buses and trucks,Swallowed and spat.We share much common ground,The tread of tyres on the ground — Driving — it comes with camaraderie,Trying to arrive despiteThe hypnotism of waves of bladesOf golden grass and dabs of thorn trees.The glare of the sun watersThe road in a mirageToContinue reading “The A1* is”
Look Beyond Chobe River
Look onto Chobe River.See a scarlet sun sinkOn the horizon. SilhouettesOf reeds and birds and treesAnd herds of buffalos grazing.Look onto the boats on Chobe River.See a marvellous sightOf tourists as silky haired as sunbeams,Downing bottles of wine and cider,Save the few hobby photographers.Look onto the jetty on Chobe River.Before the sight of a pricelessContinue reading “Look Beyond Chobe River”
Altruism?
There is no charity,At least in this city.No work is done for honest gainWithout unknown added costs.Some call them favours,Others incentives.To me, it’s an insecure insurancePolicy to motivate workers,Who will always have a storyWhy the work can’t be done,Without paying for extra labour,For simple services, like fixing a car.It goes in for a usual serviceContinue reading “Altruism?”
Boipuso*
my homeland is a star of forgotten light on quiet nights its descendants dreamof life on stars of silky cloth beyond the heatthey star gaze with fermented grainnumbing their pain of coveted gain exclaiming to all who would listen“there is no future here”“just a clouded heaven, an empty promise”dressed in starlight a child speaks upofContinue reading “Boipuso*”
The Roads in Town
Sparrows dance acrossA neglected roadChickens cross its potholesThe pavementIf that is a pavementIs an overgrowthOf weeds and shrubsBrushing feet and rimsWhat was a gutterIs now a bushveldCreeping where tarIs erodingDrivers complain“Why don’t the robots work?”In a fury they drive over themThey collect the scrapsMight as well sell them backTo none other than the governmentFor aContinue reading “The Roads in Town”
Some Real Negritude
there ain-t nothing that-s black about meother than my clay-coloured-skinmy roots in southern africaand my distinct articulationsback home they call me a coconut coz i be white in ways i read and write i show no negritudeby which they meanhip hop bantu talk and strugglesince my mother is a lekgowa*and my education ‘private-and-prestigious’ my nameContinue reading “Some Real Negritude”
The Story Goes On
Happy Easter Everyone! I wrote this poem in October last year for an event called the Gospel Experience Germany. The goal was to share the Gospel of Christ to Germans at large but with a pan-African twist. I say ‘twist’ in the sense that the artists were predominantly Africans from different parts of the continent,Continue reading “The Story Goes On”
Samuel Rubadiri 