Fireburns Odd Hopefuls Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

When you remember words of hate,
They feel like the sound of a volcano,
That is erupting at the summit,
The very top of the crater,
And pouring ash all over you,
Saying you are not the open lily,
That white lily in the water.

It sinks in the real to suck the pollen,
The little one does and goes away,
Sits on the lily that you are,
And then voila the pink flower.
No more hardened ash it is,
This odd giver that takes away,
The big sores created by the lava,
When you wished it would be larvae,
Of the worm to turn into you,
The butterfly that flies far.

Let what came out of the crater,
Cool and then shake it off,
For these words do not know,
That you have sworn to smell sweet,
No matter what the fire does,
This pain in the volcano,
That was poured all over you.

You owe yourself the new way,
This new beginning that grows all,
Whose seed comes and sits on your turf,
For you are fertile because of it,
This fiery fury this spilling out,
That took place and filled the abode,
Of hope that you carry with you,
Everywhere you go for all to see.

Turn this burning into farrows,
Grow love where yesterday's hate,
Sat smiling with a sneer,
Telling you butterflies grow not,
Where there is something that looks like you.

Who knew your wings would grow?
And fly you to the future that you see,
With wings with powdery lava that sticks,
To your back, front and beyond,
For yesterday was hot and furious,
To turn into the now that looks at you,
This odd hopeful from odd beginnings.


Know fire burns odd hopefuls,
Fries the blessings in their hand,
Chars them, wrings them and strikes,
Like lightening that flashes down,
Count it an adventure of this game,
For life without it is life closed,
To the hardship that burns us all,
This life that we came to turn on,
This torch that lights up and burns,
One day like glue, one day like goo.