In Mangweni (363 km East and 859 km South of Pretoria), Joe soliloquized in a very quiet voice in his room while sitting on the bed:

“Mangweni! You have seen the sun above the horizon
You have witnessed how the coldness of the moon drifted her to the abyss
Oh, Mangweni, see! I have embraced the warmth of the dawn
But sleep continues to cling on me and can’t help flirting with me, Mangweni.
The day beckons. Oh, the day whispers, “Joe! Get up from slumber! Joe! Wake-up from sleep!”
Yet the field doesn’t entice me, Mangweni.”

And as he closed his eye again, he heard a knock on the door and the voice of his uncle. Joe had thick and well incised lips, had dimples that appeared whenever he smiled. He was handsome, tall and well-built. He was not only good-looking, but he was also brilliant. Joe was born in Malawi. He was the fourth born of eight children of his parents. Five of them were boys while three of them were girls.

Joke’s father was a poor miner who lost his job on health grounds at one of the uranium mine in Malawi, and his mother was an analphabetic, she couldn’t read nor write. She was a house-wife, and all she knew and understood was to give birth to children and do the house-work.

Joke’s elder brothers all left school because of financial constraint. They all worked for a tobacco farm in Malawi with wages that were far below living wage, thus barely visited home to see their parents. And if they did, all their support was only sufficient for food. Joke’s uncle, who worked for a mining company in South Africa, brought Joe with him to South Africa when Joe was just three years old to live together with his own family.

“Uncle! Good Morning, Sir!” Joe responded as he got out of bed to open the door.
“Wake-up! It’s ten past six already. You have made a promise to mow the lawn today,” his uncle said while walking away from the door.

“Good Morning, Sir,” Joe greeted as he opened the door and saw his uncle.

“Good Morning! If you want to mow the lawn, you need to start early before the sun starts to scorch people,” his uncle advised.

“I know. But I am not really fit,” Joe said as the door of his room slammed behind him.

“Oh! Do you want to visit the doctor?” his uncle intoned.

Then they heard a giggling voice and Joe looked behind him.

“Why are you laughing, Michael?” Joke’s uncle asked curiously.

“Good Morning, daddy,” Michael greeted while he was still laughing.

“Good Morning. How are you, why the gleeful laugh?” Joke’s uncle complained to Michael.

“Good Morning, Mic,” Joe greeted with a smile on his face.

“Good Morning, Joe,” responded Michael as he moved towards Joe.

“I am fine. No! It isn’t,” Michael replied his daddy, “Hum! I think I know why he is feeling sick today.”

“Then tell me. Tell me why?” Joke’s uncle demanded emphatically.

Michael then tapped Joe on the shoulder and whispered, “Have you forgotten about the promise? She is coming here today.”

“Who is the she that’s coming?” Joke’s uncle asked so curiously.

And while Michael was still grinning, Joe said, “Let me go and mow the lawn.”

Then he prodded Michael on his rips and rushed out of the house. And Joke’s uncle smiled. Joke’s uncle had just bought the property; it was a mini-mansion. It was about three kilometres from where they had lived before they moved into the estate. And they had lived there for almost seven mouths when Joe made the promise to help mow the lawn. And while he mowed the lawn the surrounding inspired a new poem in him.

“A little slumber or a little sleep makes you the pauper you don’t want to be.
Where is yesterday. Oh, what has she left behind; is it a stain or is it a gem?
As smoke blown by the wind she has gone with Time: but Time has left her behind.

Oh! Today, her memory. Oh, Tomorrow, her omen.
Get up from slumber and wake up from sleep;
A little slumber and a little sleep makes you the pauper you don’t want to be.
Never let that drive you to despair! Never give up on today! Yes! Yesterday left without a sign;
But your wage today will surely pay. When you receive, you will realize that Yesterday has not betrayed you.

Get up from slumber and wake up from sleep. Oh! Be gay and make merry,
Embrace the beautiful day. Your life depends on her. For Today holds the key to your success. Oh! Your power and fame.

Oh! Yes, I do know that hard-work is not a pre-requisite for success;
But a little slumber; oh, a little sleep, a little sleep, oh, a little slumber makes you the pauper you don’t want to be.”

He finished mowing the lawn at about eight o’clock in the morning. At about one o’clock in the afternoon, Angela rang the door-bell. Joe rushed to the door.

Tell us: What do you think of Joe’s poems?