I
new country
towards you
i breathe slowly
towards your
self-demeaning
humour
new country
i bow down
slowly
towards you
towards you
little is left
lovers have deserted
the street that survives
without a name.
II
men and women with money lower your proud flags
because you were born
you will not rest
because of your stealthy height
you cannot leave us alone as fallen heroes and comrades
to distribute the naive history of your combatants
country that was born at the end of the battle like the evening
but your corpses were never buried
soon the earth will be littered with thrifty soldiers
and the nostalgic sounds of unhappy children
the fresh morning will go with its summer
and the old people will follow in their line
and soon there’ll be no afternoon
soon the belly of the children will conceive theatrical sobs
the autumn, facing the west
receive the immortal wounds of the warriors
the revolution will begin
and the fathers and teachers
follow like funerals in the wake.
III
new country
the struggle continues
revolutions never end.
Mxolisi Nyezwa is founder and editor of Kotaz, now in its fourteenth year.
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