Harare Hostels

Here the clammy flesh Of the hopeful worker In a flicker found rest. After a harsh crackle of muscle On an acre of steel rails, Here, he spent his thirst. Never schooled worker, Donkey pilgrim to a Mecca Beast is despised. At the kick of the factory clock In cruel steel tents In full blaze of the sun You spilled sweat to the last litre, Toiled, & tip toed On Christmas in sunny shoes, Starched ties & ashen shirts Over a tattered tin of some stale brew, One you took as a crew. These hostels were built, Says a school of thought, To hat colonial guilt Stuck in Buss System’s golden gut Like iron filling clog a file till its teeth are sunken. Old pastel flats, they plunk Daily to frown at the pink sun They do not shift till time’s finish. Their sad-cherry has twisted auburn. As lofty as they rise They must sink into the soils They so despise!