Four Tires On A Journey Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

Let us do this,
We were meant for this,
To go on journeys forever,
For not to do so means death,
For you are cast away where flames
May find you and melt you down.

Let us work not like strangers,
Us four brothers whose anger
Causes us to burn on the asphalt,
And smoke on our way far away,
Thinking only of the destination,
Where we will get to rest,
When the journey is over.


Don't squeal so loud as we roll,
For if you need oil say so,
If its a fever that sickens you,
Know you will be alright and me too,
We will find our bearings,
And keep going on the right track.

We are grinding sand right now,
I have a hiccup, let me breathe,
It makes me weak at the knees
I sink deeper and deeper,
We are stuck aren't we?


Pull, let us pull up y'all,
Push and pull out with power, y'all,
For we are now reeling,
In our old feelings,
That take us all over,
Where we were not meant to go.


Heave up, and out
Fight up and out for here we go,
Lean this way and move,
If you lean that way we sink,
Not this way, you are killing me,
For I am the rear tire that pulls,
Harder than all of you.

Don't yank so fast for we spin,
Turning in the same place and going deeper, ,
For we are tightened with bolts
You will break the metal,
It will loosen at the hinges,
And everything will be lost.

See that hill out there,
We are near for we can see it,
Though we go uphill with our eyes,
That have seen the downhill we come from.

Your rubber is wearing out,
Your lines are fading,
You are losing traction,
But you, you are out of bearings,
I swear if we listen to you,
We will not make it to the end.

Roll up your sleeves y'all,
It is a dance we have to win,
With this clink clink of the spanner,
That turns round as it is worked,
And fixes us and makes us go on,
For we were meant for this journey,
Black and white rubber and all,
Our reams shining to the end.