Long Zambezi Poems

Back again ...

Her daily hour of hope ...
She came every evening to The Hem ...
Just a big hole in the earth, really, a barren canyon of dust,
Perched on the south edge of the Congo, near...

Read More

CHAPTER 3 The River
 
While they paused to rest a moment 
Han gazed suddenly behind them
To the south a long way distant
Faintly rose a hazy ribbon
 
From the grassland; Han spoke quietly,
"Loved ones, we are...

Read More

FEEL AFRICA

Silence!
Silence Africa!
One can hardly get Africa to be silent;
Africa habours a pulsating bubble.
Everyone in Africa bounces to rhythm resilient.

Africa, like Zambia, or
Zambia, like Africa;
Dear ones, whichever comes first
Swells with energy in the sun!

You see...

Read More

HEAL THY SELF O WOUNDED AFRICA 
                (no to XENOPHOBIA).
      
Wake up a voice shouted...

Read More

With these winds of July ever sweeping the earth,
How should I follow the footprints of men that believed that no man shall auction another?
... Here, dawns are graceless, birds are no longer early to chirp...

Read More

Water lapping at edge of the boat beneath the silence of the sky
Swaying branches of mopane trees and fish eagles cry
Wind of changing seasons and melting palates of hue
in the blood red sunset glow and...

Read More

The brook thrums as it vaults over the piled rocks
Rolling on deep into the Zambezi valley
Twisting, flirting with the rigdes that compliment the escarpment beyond 
And the indigenous lass strolled to the rivulet a rose...

Read More

By Parizo Van Thulare 

I was born endless miles from the town 
Where tales are told about the king in his crown 
Where plates are treated same glass
So fragile respect is of the erything
So beautiful...

Read More

Ripples of blue and silver dance
impala males jump and prance
In a land where imagination roams to and fro
and the waters of old eb and flows

Dust holds memories from near and far
The sky, escarpment, and water...

Read More

By Parizo Van Thulare 

what have we done this time ?
What happened to together as one ?
Why us?
Why now ?

I thought what we had back in the ages was through
I thought that blood which was...

Read More

My Mother, like many saints, is compassionate,
Though lion-like, my father is considerate;
Like banyan tree, my family is well-branched out,
Grandmas, Grandpa, Uncles, Aunts - all are good; no doubt...
Precious among all, Pink Pearl, I am so...

Read More

A place to be; a home to live,
Full of cultures and traditions,
rivers of live.
In crossing the Mediterranean,
‘criss-crossing’ the continent, you see…


A mountain of rivers,
running the Niles to desert,
crossing the Niger to the ocean,
a Congo in...

Read More

I am the wounded, standing 
nude in thy midst
Showing to your eyes the 
stripes of thy iniquities
Tears dripping down my chin 
as drops of rain from the grey 
clouds
My face wrinkled with the pain 
of...

Read More

In the realm of the mighty Chobe-Zambezi,
Where once we thought blessings flowed freely,
I used to look through the river, deep and dazzling,
Its currents whispering stories untold,
Mild and bold, the air's gentle caress,
Looming over a navy...

Read More

Applauses were even, numbers and faces were odd.
Clay was molded and fate washed her palm
Sentences were bold as my story was told.
One of a rusty heart of iron stitches
One of haggard feet of million hitches.
The...

Read More

I love Africa, my beautiful Africa
I can roam in the bushes
I can run up the mountains
Down the valleys
Across the plains
Or get lost in the forests
Or the caves
I can soak the sun
On the sand at the...

Read More

If you are cathedral of consecration
I'm the voluminous chime summoning souls 

If you are the moonglade mountain peak 
I'm the fedora of snow atop you

If you are the bantam flame of hope 
I'm the mammoth...

Read More

With palms so chaste and a grip so pure
She wraps her fingers around the mallets
Letting them sit in the space between her thumbs and first fingers;
When she makes her first few strokes
Hammering smoothly up and...

Read More

Zambezi's strength rules
who can harness our river?
electricity from water?
Nyami, Nyami

Kariba Dam damaged
by six decades of water
the Tonga tribes celebrate
Nyami, Nyami

May 10, 2022

Joseph May's contest on Naani.

Two naani of 24 syllables each
current statements about currents

When the...

Read More

The black panther; no spots for fear,
Accustomed by the frails of the forests, 
To the long stretch of the Nile, 
Such beauty, I marvel at. 
Grazed fields, wetting bullock's appetite 
For the savannah- a stone...

Read More

Dainty queen undevoured
Bride of the rising sun
Beautiful Africa, 
The savor of thy fragrance
Calls my tongue to sweet ballads!

Your velvet skin carved in black gold
On your loins do diamonds glow
Your perfume is the silky oil of...

Read More

Call me Africa,
The land of the ancient chiefs 
That lie in ruins.
Iam the sun-scorched plains
And the roar of Mosi oa tunya.
Iam the rolling hills
And the lush green valleys
Where rainclouds come to rest
And the mopane is...

Read More

The mosquitoes were dancing outside net,
Singing their treacherous songs of death;
“Let us in, we need your blood”.

I rose and rushed out of 
The brick and pole cottage
From liquid waste demands,
Having been carousing in solitude
Till evening.

A...

Read More

Redoubtable, unparalleled
Victoria Falls displays the
power of the Zambezi  River.

Carving through basalt rock
from an ancient volcano the Zambezi  
deserves the awesome accolades of its
native audience - the Smoke that Thunders.

Work more trenchant still, this...

Read More

The river

When the river is pure, 
They throw gold and silver,
They throw their mud there,

When the river is dirty,
They come to drink with us,

Little by little, they defile the water,
In our turn, we dream of...

Read More