Vangile Mtyali Poems

I’m a young African woman
I’m Zulu speaking
I dance to the rhythms of the drums
Which were played my for fathers
...

I watched you as you set there
Sat there helpless
I watched you as you looked at me
You looked at me with eyes filled with sorrow
...

The cross on my necklace reminded me of something important
The cross on my necklace
Reminded me that I was stinking
That I was a nobody
...

EYES
I looked into your eyes
I could see the sadness
I could see the pain
...

what a dream they had
that they would risk their lives
their future
their loved ones
...

Now what if I die tomorrow
What will you tell them
Tell them the truth
If I was prostitute, tell them
...

Daddy how could you?
How could you deny your own flesh and blood
How could you let me go hungry and starve
How could you let me go naked
...

Tears of a bruised woman
...

I kept on believing
Believing you would come back
I kept on believing
I would see you
...

We are one
We are one heart
We are one body
We are one mind
...