Yesterday I watched a grave unravel itself.
I silently viewed as a shovel unpacked all the sorrow and resentment of an expired life.
I saw the cemetery reject these gifts the underworld brings to the surface.
Yesterday I watched a bird fly backwards.
I saw its trajectory migrate back to the cold it wished to escape.
Perhaps even birds struggle to avoid the wintry hands of fate.
Its wings…fluttered in a syncopated rhythm.
Its bosom expanded in a manner shockingly familiar
To the beating of funeral drums.
This was no longer flight but a death march.
The air currents played pall bearer.
The breeze whistled through the trees.
A fitting eulogy to this scene,
As nature sheds and leaves its final rites.
I saw a bird fly backwards yesterday.
I watched as a grave unraveled itself.
I stood vigil as the cemetery gifted this avian a final resting place.
Takudzwa “Tearsinthesoil” Goniwa is a poet/spoken word artist from Zimbabwe. His poetry rotates around the central themes of love/erotica, mental health, religion, and modern masculinity. His work has been published on various platforms such as Odd Magazine, The Daily Drunk and The Best of Africa to name a few. In 2020 he performed at the annual Atizay Virtual Festival which strived to connect Africans and their art across borders. In early 2019, he released a spoken word E.P. onto You Tube entitled “Sunsets and Suicides” which delves deeply into the psychology of mentally illness.