The Sun Still Shines Poem by Nkosiyazi Kan Kanjiri

In the sunshine city
The sun still smiles
It shines, the way it shone to the pioneer column when they bumped into granaries of fortune

It still shines
Even upon stinking bins in the heart of the city
Showing light to stray dogs
That run hither and thither and yonder
Growling to dry air on empty stomachs
The sun still shines.

Even to filthy mouthed kombie touters
Dangling on the doors of a kombie carrying braaied souls
The sun still shines.

To a blind beggar by the roadside
Whose five cent bond coin dances solo in an empty kango plate
And stares in the portholes of a street of cynicism
Yearning for nowhere to be found bond coins, the sun still shines

Even to a widow vendor
Whose sapless vegetables are turned down by snarling city lions
The sun still shines in the sunshine city

Even to a street kid
Wearing itchy robes of poverty,
Competing with stray dogs for supper in the bins down town
it shines

The sun still shines
In the sunshine city
And it still smiles.


(Harare Zimbabwe: December 2016)