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Best Poems Written by Allan Kazembe

Below are the all-time best Allan Kazembe poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

Snakes Sometimes

Snakes sometimes are simply sheep
sleeping, and easy to tame and keep;
but all this depends on the way they milk you
and the sustainability of all it too,
for when  the scantiness winters come
their once virtuousness is released venom
from their one time sweet singing harp 
as their virtue and their vileness overlap.
and the sleeping sheep
unwind like snakes in the rumbling wind.
and they become snakes in body and mind,
and these snakes rise like a swam of bees;
the distressed sheep; the sheep not at ease:
these snakes that are sometimes cheap,
sheer sleeping sheep
now wear darkness and recite dark verse
when winters come, the winters of scantiness.

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

Break, Break, Break

Break, break, break, 
   Break into blissful beat, break
   Break into dynamic dance, break
   Break into rapturous reverence, break
   For your bread and butter, break.

But breaking I will also break 
    Into woeful tears, break
    Into a panicky run, break:
    Tears for good days gone
    A run after decent meals, done.

Break, break, break
   Breaking we will break
   Two sides breaking.

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

Brothers, Should It Always Come To This

Brothers, 
Should we always return to the old tune
Of time and again tuning to counterpoint 

Of the past pain; a throbbing return 
Right at the very tipping point
Of the pinnacle to touch promised power? 

Brothers, how long should we bear
Blood-spattered battles of their 
Own making and their own imagination,

Their own thoughts, and their own creation?
How long should we let the pagans 
Pluck off feathers from our wings

–to which stupid plundering sings – 
Partying the persistence of the polluted plan
As the vampires again and again 

Have the plan prepared and bared
As did our yesteryear’s gods, 
Leaving us without defense, and  in tense?

Let us pound the drums and tom-toms of war
And let us let the reverberating sound soar 
High, high, high up there in the air

As yesteryear’s war songs we prepare
For our juggled and gagged flag to fly
Again against their blood-red raided sky.

Brothers, 
Then let us swallow a little while 
Their bitter bile as we prepare them to pace their last mile

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

If I Must Die

If I must die, let it be before the break of dawn
When peace and stillness sway in people, homes, and places
When earsplitting music in alcohol selling places, cease
When even the foul and abusive drunks have returned home
And even the roughneck of husbands are all calm in sleep
And naughty children are even obedient ones in sleep
And husbands and wives are cuddled in beds, adoration in reign

If I must die, let it be before the break of dawn
When the Morning Star, in the West, is sparkling bright
               That warns the witches and robbers of the coming light
When day is about to break and, at the peak of calm
When zephyr wafts so coolly even in months of tortured snooze
When guards, the bereaved, even the sick are knocked by snooze
When even the warring dogs have ceased fire and are serene

If I must die, let it be before the break of dawn 
When the time is at its darkest mark, its dimmest part            
When vigor is to be revived in people’s mind set
When the time is at the peak of dark; when witches hunt and roam
When incest, buttering, rape, defilement is without 
When husbands are loving ones and wives are submissive ones, flat-out 
Not times like night or evening, morning, noon when chaos is in reign

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

Flowering In the Showers

flowers, flowers, flowers;

marigold flowers, jasmine flowers,
rose flowers, bougainvillea flowers,
carnation flowers, petunias flowers;
dark flowers, bright flowers,
flowers of dignity, flowers of vulgarity,
flowers in opponent, flowers in proponent.
red, white, blue, yellow, black, green flowers:
fragranced flowers, fungus flowers,
poisonous flowers, scented flowers,
strong flowers, wrong flowers;
flowers scanty, flowers plenty.

all these flowers flower in the showers
the showers shower their blessing on all the flowers
the showers do not segregate 
the showers must never segregate 
all the flowers must flower in the showers.

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

Sad News From Home

Brothers Levi, Jordan, Matthews, Joe and Jedden, 
You were sheer shocked as did Sister Hussein
That even this day we can still adjure, argue, advocate,
And advance active activism for the rule of law stolen,
As did Dr Manuele or Orton Chirwa before this date
Who blustered against the egalitarian promise broken;
Or as before them, Rev. Chilembwe’s burst with rage 
Being shocked and choked with downright disbelief 
At the atsamundas’ well premeditated prejudice cage; 
Segregation and Thangata, and such other mischief.
Brothers, that day of shock, you also shade sad tears,
Which many of us here have also done over the years
Seeing that even this day the gods had stolen the show;  
Not for good reasons, but for partying ragged ignorance
Of commoners: of clapping again, of praising as before, 
Egalitarian impotence these present day gods prance
As constructive criticism they castigate; at times cajole
With constipated wallets: aiming to gag, retch reprimand; 
As they throw all to keep the land in the hopeless hole
They had damned it in with their fresh oppressive wand.
Brothers, it is truly sad that even today we expostulate
As the present gods fancy people that do not remonstrate;
Sad they hate to hear the philosophy that does not blush
When it comes to slam their ‘big-man’ mind-set upfront
As was done to the past cruel gods in their groan, and gush
Of verbose at critics, who did not fear their haunt and hunt
But stood firm amidst the god’s aggressive intimidation, 
Jeer, jolly josh, lampoon, lies, lash outs, lectures or leer, 
Or needle and outrageous orates, aimed at the obfuscation
Of the commoners so they fail to question or query this queer
Performance of raging and ranting even this present day
To have this blast from the past, Brothers you saw, at play.

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

A Word

a word is like a pod
laden with a load
of meanings, narrow and broad
which if is to explode

could bite bitter like bile 
of a crocodile,
which goodies can curtail, 
and even derail.

that vivacity can dilute, 
misunderstandings, inflate.

it is chill, so cold,
so frosty, it freezes a flowing mood
a wicked discord
a bloodbath threshold.

yes, a word is like a sword

so sharp and vile, it ravages mighty hearts,
so cruel, it debases savory love.
it ruins. 
a word can curse.
                 
but a word is a reward
that heals broken mood
which meals hearts devoid
that kills the art of  paranoid.

it is dripping dews of harmony. 
a word can bless.

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

Celina, You Must Be Earth By Now

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.

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

Oh Nadia

Oh Nadia,

How art thou fallen
The one time star angel, now sullen
  
You were covered, oh Nadia,
A darling to many, oh dear

Glories and honors covered thee,
So coveted, of many a degree

Before art thou fallen oh Nadia
Before art thou this sullen oh dear
  
Your glories many celebrated
And your honors many narrated
  
But how now art thou humbled
In that great fall that rumbled
  
Oh, Nadia, 
The star angel now lowered
Oh, dear, 
Once strong pillar, now a coward
  
Oh, Nadia,
you beauty made our headlines
as your news met no deadlines

Oh, Nadia
Star angel sullen and fallen
The beauty, fallen and sullen

Details | Allan Kazembe Poem

The Land Can See

oh god the land can perceive 
your full desperation
reigning in your heart to deceive

god the land ably beholds
the cosmetic beauty
your powdered skin beholds

god the land can surely see
this fake beauty in you
even from afar like a tall tree

for with this rain that heavily falls
and the sun that crazily burns 
and the wind that deeply blows

they erode your skin powder;
exposing panicky beauty in you 
crawling like a startled spider