Zebra Stripes Never Cross Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

Cross the stripes of a zebra
You get a skin with shapes
Geometrical and the eyes, we
Fear may be cross eyed, and
As for the legs, they may end
Up crossed on the couches of
The earth.

The question comes why we would
Want to change so beautiful a
Coat when it serves us. Then
Since well being is all stripes, one
Stripe here and another alongside
It, we venture into a darkness
trying to create the impossible.

For zebras stripes never cross.
Their stripes help them to tell
Their moms, dads, uncles aunts
And cousins when the sun shines,
That even though far away the striped
Breed is here and sound and waiting.

They wear the stripes long and
lined, for it is better to live
The way they came from the land
Unknown. Life continues in the
Plains and none complain of the
Gift they have. So never will you
See on a zebraa dress white,
And a dress red or one of crossing lines
For one dress does it
And one hue fits all.

The time will come when we will
Learn that to survive, and know
Our whereabouts. That we do not need
The new covers even for our cars,
But messages written in our hearts
That tell us where one is for
If species wild can do it
So can we.