Poetry International Web: Poem of the week

Blessing Musariri (1973)

Blessing Musariri's relationship with poetry began in junior school after signing up for speech and drama lessons that she continued for six years. During this time, Blessing learned and recited poetry every year at the Allied Arts' Eisteddford Festival and was examined by the Trinity College of Music Board (UK) in 1988. This exposure to poetry inspired her to begin writing her own poetry.

SHE ON THE WAY TO MONK'S HILL

She knows everyone on the way to Monk's Hill,
stops to ask for mangoes – they are growing everywhere
it's almost a crime to pay.

At the overflowing bridge, men wash pink-skinned sweet potatoes
while the river has steals a few,
she hollers hello and lets them know, tells me, they'll fetch them later.

Stopping for ginnip breeds nostalgia
of her childhood in Guyana –
plantain, sour-sop, breadfruit –
always free, from neighbours,

says her brother doesn't believe in apples;
he's never seen an apple tree, so doesn't trust the juice.
But her nephew, he eats strawberries in
banana cake and doesn't know the difference.

She careens through mud; a carefree cowboy, calling out the sights,
arms wrapped around her waist, I am a jockey without her reigns,
holding on to every word, bracing at every hurdle.

St. John's, Antigua, 30 May 2010 © 2010, Blessing Musariri

Poem of the week / Blessing Musariri page, Zimbabwe

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