I’m where I’m supposed to be by nature
Stationed permanently by nature to grow high and blossom by season
My beauty is a curse to my life
It renders me vulnerable to forced removals
It renders me vulnerable to plug or plague
It renders me vulnerable to wild fires and wanton fire scourge
I may know or not know what is to come
But all the same I can’t move out of the way of danger or capitalise on sporadic rain
I’m rooted to the ground by nature
Some provocation I can withstand
The blow of the wind, the extreme cold of winter and the scourge of the merciless sun
Let alone the rainstorms and floods
In fact I do enjoy those even though they feed me up to nausea
I wish I can move like humans
Thus I can do things at will rather than forcefully manoeuvred and used
Let alone being destroyed haplessly
I can even charge a fee for beautifying some people’s dwellings at will
I can even repel the myriad assailants of insects, people and animals
Who don’t bother to maim me in the quest of feed or brag
N Nkuna,3 January 2014
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem