October 24, 2024

by MUSONDA MUKUKA

Glimmers

a girl
basks on worried leather
in the warm grip of sun

fingers fretting
in allegiance
to an anarchy of rhythm

sonnets set
kissing silk
on the roof tiles of a rung

sutures stitched
scars abated
sovereign intercession

*

Metaphors for Drowning

You learnt to paddle
by the pool they built
next to the river

Trained your kicks
in the mud
that surrounded the garden

Floating next to the men
who / smelling of iron
will try and teach you
the value of copper

and bewitch you
on the benefits of playing house
and just how firm a castle made of sand
can stand
when mined against the value of the dollar

You’ll straighten the cloth of your curtains
Trade metal sheets for silk
in line with what suits their Polaroids

Compress your life into a #
Your walls into a backdrop
Your home a holiday
Your grief a destination

Treading in the places the water is clear
They will marvel at the eagle landing
You will not say which one

Having mastered everything else
You will show them what else lies beneath the water
as they instruct you on how best
to breathe underneath it