We are excited to share excerpts from Zama Mamadina’s poetry collection titled, Freedom Songs & Interludes published by Jar Press. Brittle Paper has previously featured Mamadina’s work including, My Country in Three Parts and ‘94.

This new collection includes poems such as Ashes of Hate, Karibu, and Congo. Read the excerpts below and purchase the full collection here.

ashes of hate 

even when the eyes 

of our memory 

refuse to wash away 

wounds of gukurahundi   

we will march up  

to the mountain top  

of peace  

& forgiveness  

our big hearts  

housing  

a million galaxies  

we will rinse  

our timid past  

under the boiling water  

of mosi-oa-tunya   

& mana pools 

we will  

seek refuge  

in the healing  

& warm   

sounds of mbira  

stench of dictatorship  

will die   

when a tower of tribalism  

is demolished  

our eyelids will burn  

with fires  

of hope 

when hunger turns  

us into beggars  

in foreign lands 

 

lines for tsitsi 

when you crossed the limpopo river  

with a shangaan bag  

full of hopes  

& dreams 

 

escaping the house  

of hunger  

 

unaware  

that you would end up  

on polly street 

 

your silky thighs  

devoured  

by joburg winter 

 

aggressively chewed  

by vicious men   

for no pay 

 

no shoulder to cry on 

when the crocodile 

unexpectedly swallowed 

mugabe  

 

your ululation of thunder  

cracked the solid walls  

of carlton centre 

my afrikan sister 

 

& your dance 

shook the ground  

of ponte city 

 

freedom songs

i)

we

have witnessed

the seeds

of hypocrisy

growing

from the lips

of our leaders

those that trade

their souls

& wield a blade

of hatred

against their own

those that wear the gowns

of corruption

with pride

while so many tummies

recite unpunctuated verses

of starvation

in zimbabwe

those that offer us

a red handshake

of massacre

in marikana

we have seen

women

& children

walking on the unbreakable thorns

of genocidal

trauma in kigali

struggling to erase

the deep scars

of yesterday

we have witnessed

the unspoken slave-trade

in libya

tortured tales

drowning

in the sea

we have seen

the cape flats

tripped

& trapped

in the trenches

of tik addiction

& sowetan dreams burn

in the scorching flames of nyaope