Venice masks

Thursday, 23 October 2025

Problem - Goodwill Siboniso Mkhwanazi

Life yearned for by multitudes
A ceremony of the first fruits
That causes both young and old
To walk up and down
A ceremony looked down upon
Thrown away like fire
Those who carry fire destroy and run away
Those who want fire walk up and down like red ants
A ceremony hunted like wild animals
A ceremony of the first fruits attractive to the eyes
They taste and spit out like the sea
They look at and hunger for it like a medal
A ceremony harvested from multitudes
But who bare love

A gathering of two bulls
A trap that kills
A wound from the forehead that never heals
A sculpture crafted with steel

A ceremony that produces fruits
Land of the lost
Battlefield with no training
Education set aside before learning

The door where you enter alone
The door that locks bridesmaids outside
A knot unfastened in court and imprisoned outside
A knot imprisoned with a bridesmaid
Set free by the lawyers

Goodwill Siboniso Mkhwanazi (b. 1969) South Africa
Translated by Siphiwe ka Ngwenya
Source: Botsotso

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