Mistress of Rooibos
Splendid in beauty and fragrant in ruby
How I linger in your placid dreams,
drawing out your parched tongue
I shall scatter my daughters with the devine whip of the winds
They will suck out the moisture of the land
and give you blessings upon blessings
above the soil
The sorcery of my leaves will entice you to slavery
And that ominous smell?
It belongs to me.
IT SHALL indeed encourage your prosperity
Even as I am poured out,
More loosely than the spring rains
I scream from within your palms
In every corner where men have set base
However, now,
my silence is rewarded by the plundering of my kingdom
My beauty is disheveled by the uprooting of my shoots
There is ecstacy in the sights of my smell,
the moistened blood of the South African velds
I cannot be denied nor my power refused,
Even if it against my own will I am plundered.
Who are earth queens?
Do they not succumb to the very sweat of me.
Do they not draw up peace treaties with my name
Or guide alliances from the sip of thine
I am the jewel of the South African grasslands.
The fragrance of diversity,
beyond the African dust.
Oh! How I have bedded the velds and adorned them!
Copyright © Sizwe Hlabisa | Year Posted 2016
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment