Poems from Charis
I do not know what other girls my age
Think, I know what I do
Though fashion, boys, beauty and not sage
words of wisdom are more true...
Fifty odd years ago, freedom! We cried. Our wish
came true; our soil, the colonial masters departed
the sovereign Queen no longer held...
! Happiness! You fickle emotion, wretched emotion
grinning mask covering seething faces
deceiving innocent people, falsifying places...
Tears streamed down kohl-lined eyes
Black trails down tear ravaged face
I wail against the heavens, naked and broken
Water fails to wash...
Come inside, it’s getting dark
Mother said minutes before supper
Fish and fresh milk in dipper
Toy soldiers, I shoved into sack
We...