The day my mother died
I did not cry.
I was overwhelmed with shock
And sat sullen by the fireside
Watching the wailing womenfolk.
The day my mother died
My perception became surreal
I hoped she would rise like Lazarus.
I resigned and sighed
In helplessness and anger,
I mourned for the bond untied
The maternal bond, the womb gave.
David Chasumba (snr) is a Zimbabwean Writer and Poet. He has published two short story collections with Carnelian Heart Publishing: 2023 NAMA award winning, The Mad Man on First Street and Other Short Stories (2022) and Behind the Façade and Other Stories (2024). David’s poems have been published by Kalahari Review, Ipikai Poetry Journal, British Haiku Society anthology (2023), in Best “New” African Poets (2023) anthology and in MEN: An International Anthology of African and Latin American Writers, Volume 3 and in Zimbolicious 9 anthology. David lives in Bexhill-on sea, East Sussex, UK.