There is no way out
All four walls of rock and roof and hard place
I’ll waste my breath if I say I can’t breathe
And it’s not the mask that’s suffocating me
I am tired of dreaming of a present that I’m happy in
A future that doesn’t threaten to make me cry
Home is a field of charcoal – there’s nowhere to go
The neighbors put minefields in the fence, I’ll blow if I cross
The books I loaded in my head are collecting dust
The pen never takes my side, in school or out
I am only looking for a greener pasture
Yet they want to set me on fire
All the bridges are burnt to frames of charcoal
I trusted a villain to put out my fire
He promised me everlasting greenery
But here I am, caged in a charred field
The diamond of the mesh dices the picture
Bluish mountains in the distance
Where the pitter patter of rain is no tale
Where the heat never melts your skin
The lush green hills there are like the curves of a lover
With eyes so earnest,
Promising forever
I still roam when I spent years getting that paper
But it’s not important here, they still see me as a pauper
They keep me from running without turning back
The wails of mouths attached to hungry bellies
Their love is the fence, their need is like a vice on my throat
But I feel rotten for wishing I was beyond the fence
Gangaidzo Janet Kufa is a poet and a lover of words. She has been writing poems from an early age, most of which have never seen the light of day. Gangaidzo has poems published on various sites and blogs such as Kubatana, High on Poems, and All Poetry. She has one self-published book, a collaborative collection of poems titled What Say Ye? and one of her poems was featured in the 2020 Best New African Poets Anthology by Mwanaka Media. She is working on compiling a collection of poems whose title changes every time she writes a new piece.