Watching The Aloes In The Light Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

We watched in the dark,
Where silently we stood,
Watching under dark skies,
A car in the distance,
Whose light kept coming,
Getting closer to where we were.

It's light danced as it amazed,
It showed on the wall,
Making the aloes dance.
For they stood between us,
Watching us,
As if we were the ones in the space,
Making the light dance,
In the midnight sky.

We knew it was coming,
We could feel it in us,
The thing we did not know,
And walked into uncertain,
For courage is not seen,
But lived in the things we do,
That we do not call by that name,
For lack of understanding.

We see it better now,
Like the aloes we do,
Surrounded by grandchildren,
Who laugh and think life is real,
Who in their joy they see themselves,
And in it grow taller than trees,
As the future comes to them daily.

Hold my hand we say,
Shake it harder and harder,
I may not see you again,
For the light gets closer,
Like the car in the distance,
That shines its light against the wall,
Making the shadows of aloes real,
For they also stand erect,
When they stand on a mountain
And make the lowveld real,
Like soldiers in hats,
Who march quietly and watch,
As the march continues in the light,
Where the stars cannot be brighter,
Having been defeated by the night.

The aloes remain standing,
They are stronger on their feet,
They wait for the seasons,
They shed their leaves in turn,
We are stronger for having stood,
Shedding no leaves but scales,
In a skin that is so brown,
For we have lived to tell the story,
That we stood near the aloes,
And marched to the tune of time.