Palm Tree, Swing And Sway For Me Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

It stands tall its leaves reaching for the sky,
T his palm tree that gave me life,
Its sap made my people drink,
After tapping its endless tap,
And sapping its endless sap.

This same palm whose nut I ate,
This coconut from which I drank
While smearing its butter on my skin.
Its aged leaves now bowing down,
Refusing to look up and give to you,
Letting go of the stem that holds,
Like rich notes of money peeling,
From a bundle that the merchant peels
When he goes to banks you send him.

What will I do when you lie down forever,
Your sap like milk all dried up,
With shriveled fruit with no milk for me,
No nipples sweet where yesterday we drank,
Licking our hands and mouth greedily,
Without thinking one day you will go,
Never to sing and rand give us sap no more?

Palm tree, palm tree sing to me,
When the wind blows, let your leaves move,
Let the leaves that look down share,
In this life that you have given,
Palm tree wise, palm tree tall,
With my hands I reach out to you,
And touch your sap around me,
For it dripped into our hut,
And gave us life when we were poor.

Where will we go when you are gone?
Where will the warmth of your smells go?
What can I do to make you stay
And feed me with your butter, sap and all? .
For I have eaten fruit that falls,
Your leaves swaying writing my life,
Which I would read in years to come,
For you came to bless with all you have,
Endless spirit of endless giving.