Celina, you must be thorough earth by now,
Decomposed matter:
Food for plump plants and heavy earth worms.
We still gather, as we used to gather
Together, the water lily tubers
-nymphae petersiana- by their laboratory
Name but ‘Nyika’ as you used to know them
You will turn Celina, in your grave. Churn
With rage, Celina,
When you get this that they now gather the
Nyika together with us, and even Khumbi.
And they now even trek with us to Thawalala,
Malemia, Marka,
Chindebvu, Chimombo,
Nyachilenda, Nyamisale, Nyamadzele
Dinde and Ndamela.
Those same tapped legs Celina,
No longer hallowed, but even barefooted;
The feet burrow into the scorching sand.
Those same lips Celina, no longer speak
Serendipitous sacrilege to us. But together we sing
The same songs,
Celina that had us hiding and running.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.