South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana Poems

Tell me a story

          about the woman and her baby
jailed for visiting her husband
without a valid pass

Tell me how she lives
how she forgives

Tell me a story about the man
imprisoned for asking
to be treated like a man

Tell me how he’s smiling
reconciling

Tell me a story about the child of civil war
who watched her uncle shot
by soldiers in the square

Show me how she thrives
hope still alive

Tell me a once-upon story
a now-it-is though then-it-was
not all that long ago

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A Day At Honeyguide Tented Safari Camp

Morning…

The monkey super-highway on the

roof of my tent is traffic-jammed

at 4:30 every day.

Crash! Bang! Another one

leaps tree to canvas.

It’s early, my

primate cousins –

please shut

up.

Afternoon…

There is an elephant in my tent.

Well, not right in it, but so close

that I see his eyelashes

and hear him chewing grass.

He smiles at me, winks

and walks away

quietly.

Goodbye,

friend.

Evening…

We are not food or competition

for food, the guide reassures us

as we approach the lion

and his mate resting in

the tall grass. They glance

our way, yawn, stretch,

resume their

feline

dreams.