Indebted To The Team' S Center Player Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

This woman has an extra finger
For her thumb splits into two
On each one of her hands.
She also has six toes on each
Foot for her fifth toe splits
Into two. If her fingers and
Toes decided on a soccer match
She can make the two teams that
We watch in this game caed life.

Since life is another thing this
Female giant that stands six foot
Is a center player in the netba
Of life. She catches the ball at
The sound of the whistle and the
Team goes into action.

My fascination is not about her
Throws and catches but about
Twelve fingers on the ball when
Everybody has ten when both
Hands lock up in a catch.

I feel for the other team for
Their center player is up against
Life at its zenith. If it is about
A kick she gets a six toe burst
That makes her feel that some
People have the gods on their side
Long before they make it into
A netball team.

My spirits are high for I look
At the score and know that the
Opposition will remember every
Game of the sixties as challenging
The skies unsure what amphibians
Lay out there in the noisy after
Frog song for frogs can win against
A choir of sixty with the baritone
Of one bull frog. So noisy are the
After rain sounds of southern Africa.
Since people there sing in choirs
Big one still has to see a competition
As strange as this netball match forms
In the land of giants and their music
One wonders what this center player
Would do. The game ends with me crying
Tears of joy. Thanks to the center player
That passes and moves with the feet
That if they were webbed they would
Be the pride of the water hole dweller.