Here Is A Gertrude Sneezes Number Nine Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

I am waiting for the day
You will die sister-in-law
For you, I will dance and sing
For you hated me and did not
Hide it. I live and walk
Counting the days when my father's
Money will be left to my brother
Without you poking your nose
Into a pot you did not put
On the hearth.

My mother sits and looks the
Other way for the distant
Look in her eyes says it all.
Only when my God says I must
die and not according to your
Will will it happen.

My aunt walks away empty
Handed for my mother had
Nothing for her besides the
Usual cup of tea and she did
Say openly in her usual way
'So today it is only hot
Water to scald the insides.'

The battle of money goes on
And now my aunt has said it
Out that she alone has a grass
Hut in this house of Isaac.

She is demanding that the clan
Build for her a house for Isaac
Left money enough for all his
Children to not live in houses
That the cyclone will leave lying
One one side.

'Over my dead body, will a man
Build you a house. You chased away
A good man and now you make demands
To our husbands.' My mother now talks
And the scorn in her voice has me
Wondering if all the strife has not
Just dumped itself on her.

'You do not belong here and you
Have no say in the affairs of the
House of my father. You came here
To follow the rules not to lead
And now you shout at me like a
Wild animal without even covering
Your hair. Which people told you
That you talk back to your female
Father-in-law.

You are nothing here. Even this
Table has a right to be here
Not you. If you do not shut
Your mouth I will fix it with
Glue from that acacia tree. I hope
You see it in the sap of these
Marula trees too.'

The quarrel is broken by my brother
Who tells my mother to get out of
The house and follow my aunt. He
Gives my mother a long bamboo stick
That lays on the ground and says
She must follow her. My aunt walks
Away fast as if she has not been
Yelling and heads for her hut.

Soon we see smoke coming out of
The sides of the hut and know
She is going to be warm and cozy
In her bed and peace will settle
On the land.