If I Could Slap Thunder Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

If I could slap thunder,
I would rise up high and yell,
And ask what sound this is,
That booms in my ears,
Like the guns that shoot our youth,
And leave them on roadsides lifeless,

If I could slap thunder,
I would bring the dark clouds,
Down here where the darkness,
Threatens us with death,
That we inflict on each other,
And stop the madness there and there.

If I could slap thunder,
I would hold the front of the guns,
And push back the bullets,
With hands that are stronger,
That can hold back fire,
And bring the thunderous metal,
To its knees in my bare hands.

If I could slap thunder,
I would render all guns mute,
And lay them at the bottom of the ocean,
For they are no treasures lost,
These loose cannons that fire,
When their namesakes blink,
And tell another one its over,
And send them to the boom,
That we hear continuously,
As it sends loved ones to their end.

If I could slap thunder,
And clap it with my cold clap,
Electrify it to oblivion,
And stop it from falling,
In flashes of lightening,
That strikes down in anger,
And causes all to hide,
Like my aunt in the passage,
Watching the flashes from outside,
For we were dreaming of a future,
Where we have conquered by hiding,
Instead of boldly going out,
To yell our defiance,
And return with the thunder of applause,
That has been taken from us each time,
We hear that guns have thundered on souls,
That were not heeding the moment,
That the time of reckoning has come,
Where once more we face our sorrow,
And tell it we are helpless,
For we cannot clap thunder,
With a slap from the eternity
That has swallowed those we love.