Communication - Yury Zavadsky

Surprising how feelings depend on blood pressure.

Electricity in my body prevents me from staying put.

And, still, I force myself not to move.

Nose - Alaíde Foppa

It's practically 

an appendage

to the face's 

serene geometry,

Position - Léon Damas

For  J.D.

The days themselves

have taken on the shape

of African masks

To my generation - Roberto Armijo

To Roque, to Argueta, to Cea, to Quijada Urias

In what station hotel

will our shadows touch the lips of the abyss

and stretched but on the iron bed

the flames of hell fall

in waves on our bodies

Living with the rain 1 - Yana Lucila Lema

Morning star comes by

and the hummingbirds fly around

Police Report - Alzira Rufino

The black woman is not stopped

by this brutish thing

by this lukewarm discrimination

I want to be one with you in the water - María Soledad Quiroga

I want to be one with you in the water

to feel in transparency

the body's weight,

Magic in the Moonlight - Edney Cain

There is magic in the moonlight

Where the breezes softly sigh;

There is wonder in the whisper

Spoken in your eye.

A Window in Winter - Sandro Chiri

Through this window

I have seen the rain and snow,

my distant children, an envious

scowl and, far away, a letter

from God on the ground ripped to shreds.

Fixed Stars - José Asunción Silva

When the soul

Has broken from the body

And sleeps in the tomb’s night,

Longer than any other,

Wait - Gladys Carmagnola

The Southern Cross comes to our appointment

every night, without fail.

Speaking of Gabriel - Rosario Castellanos

Like all visitors my son disturbed me,

taking a place that was my place,

existing unpropitiously,

making me divide every mouthful in two.

Sin - Carlos Bahr

I know not

whether this is forbidden;

if there’ll be forgiveness;

or if I’ll be carried to the brink of the abyss.

All that I know:

This is Love.

Pregonera by José Rótulo

Blonde and ivory princess, she was queen

of my idealistic youthful dreams:

the one who peddled flowers

on an April day,

Portrait of a Water Trough - Togara Muzanenhamo

It was here the old man drank and wiped his mouth,

cupped the cool water and bathed his face with a deep

exhale – his smooth balding scalp shining beneath

the sun like polished soapstone. The day had been long,

the search forlorn, whistling and clicking his tongue,

a small sack of boiled sweet potatoes slung back over

Love - Charles Mwewa

        I long, long                              truly for you

    I miss you,                                     and it is true

Tishuash - Badi

All that has been has gone,

(how great the living and everlasting God!)

but how beautiful this scene is!

My Home - Mulumba Matia

This is my home Uganda.

This is the land for me.

This is the place where my heart is at rest.

This is the land for all that is the best.

Here I am alive and free.

Grain of Beauty - Mansour M'henni

Hello! Grain of beauty

Waking at the fountain

Filled with the valley

Splitting the plain

The fate of women - Djeri Wapondi

Woman, I dream of you naked

I dream of your pretty body sculpted in the perfection of a dream

Despite this pretty and beautiful body,

Why is this world made like this

And why isn't it perfect?

Delinquent Flower - Neema Komba

Sometime ago,

Someone somewhere saw you

Soar above the grass

Sway in a light breeze 

Graceful and elegant

Like a giraffe. 

Butterflies of Meaning - Laila Neihoum

A poet's horizon

Is filled with butterflies

That’s Afaf

And Sakina, sending

her early morning messages

to my sleepy day,

I won’t bow my head for anyone - Stephen Ciec Lam

My brown ox has grown old like Wunbiel’s ox.

This dark ox has grown old like Wunbiel’s ox,

like the brown ox of my grandfather,

like Luanglei’s ox.

Glory Days - Bai T. Moore

wandered in the moonlit night

to view the glory of the past

Peace - Nyalunjoch mai Gatwech

Peace is a world without guns and bombs

Peace is world without locks and alarms

Peace is fresh water flowing down rivers and streams

Peace is sleeping without bad dreams

Remembering - Tumello Motabola

We were often taken at times by the light breaking in the window,

pilfering brilliant holes within our bodies like cinema sunsets.

Wanting for our Fathers - Vuyi Qubeka

your lust

seeps into me

it forgets that I’m

your child

Utendi (The Book of Mwana Kupona) stanzas 12-21 - Mwana Kupona

12

The first thing is to hold fast to your religion,

not rejecting the ordinances and obligations of God,

and when possible it is your duty to follow the Traditions,

it is a must you obey.

Bitter and Sweet - Qaasim

Consider the aloe – how bitter is its taste!

Yet sometimes there wells up a sap so sweet

That it seems like honey in your mouth.