Halala all you wordsmiths! FunDza is so proud of our Fanz writers! We are delighted to showcase this poem by one of our talented young writers to celebrate this wonderful avenue for self-expression. Good poetry can be a great mental and emotional pick-me-up. Read and enjoy…

 Poetry is to words what song is to sound

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A young lady filled with boldness and belief comes home
She puts her huge bag on the bed,
she puts down her journal
She puts down her fur coat
She puts down the sweat from the hot day’s sun
She puts down the noise from the taxi rank
She puts down the smell of mala le mogodu from the street cooker,
The smelly armpits from the construction workers in the taxi.
She moves her eyes around her eyes around the on-roomed house
The fading away of her mother’s scent in the room
The last cry of her baby boy

On this bed she puts down all her worries
Her last memory of mama sleeping on it with no life left in her
She puts down her brother’s favourite song
‘Life is beautiful’ plays as she drops it down with tears in her eyes
She puts down her sadness, emptiness and loneliness
She puts down her unwillingness to live
The bed is sinking,
Though it still has space for her weight
You are my redeemer, she sings
and jumps on the bed
The bed carries all her weight without a single complaint.