The world we tread on,
and the songs we sing,
are not for the faint hearted.
Months elapse,
as we hold Mother Earth ransom,
besieging her and demanding her,
to release the precious secrets,
hidden in the labyrinths of her womb.
The ground we sleep on,
and the dreams that guide us,
are not for the faint hearted.
they drive us deep,
into the deepest and most desperate depths,
shallow and treacherous.
and the earth always unyielding and threatening.
My brothers in arms are crushed and claimed,
by the protesting Mother Earth.
Yet, as long as we still believe,
life is in her womb,
down to her we will always return.
Some she claims,
some are given one more chance,
to smell the fresh air of life.
Also by this poet:
Portia Ndhlovu is a graduate from the University of Zimbabwe. She majored in English and German languages. She is a Zimbabwean national currently based in South Africa who is passionate about Zimbabwean poetry, social realism, and issues affecting children. Portia has co-authored an academic article titled The Cases of missing fathers in Zimbabwe’s The Closure DNA show: reflecting on loose ends (ACADEMIA LETTERS, 2021).