"Convulsive Tendencies" and "There Is a Method in Her Madness"
Convulsive Tendencies
the road looks like it is running away
and one wishes one had more than
a pair of eyes—maybe two sideways
and of course- at the back of the head
sometimes the car convulses or gallops
especially when it thinks one`s legs
on the pedal and brakes are playing
fool with its little moody mechanics
There Is A Method In Her Madness
“Does this bring food to my little table?
How many times should I tell villagers here
I no longer want to hear about that name?
Do you want my granddaughters and sons
who are sweating it out in foreign lands
to starve me after getting wind that I am
attending useless meetings arranged
by the same crazy and clueless fellows
who ran everything down and as if that
were not enough damage-- chased good
citizens through violence and hunger?
Look at you: unemployed, starving
and coming here with: Gogo, there`s
a meeting. What! Wake up. You
want me to vomit? Get out, out!!!”
Granny Masuku`s stick landed
hard and severally on an image
emblazoned on the front
of the visitor`s worn-out shirt.
The visitor was sent packing.
That incident sent the village
wagging tongues. Some people
said it was because of senility
or madness or both . All agreed
that whatever it was there was
a mantra and a method in it.
Ndaba Sibanda is a passionate author whose works of art have been featured in several international anthologies, magazines and journals. He is the author of Love O`clock and The Dead Must Be Sobbing. He has co-authored more than twenty-five published books.