Monday, February 3, 2025

Bittersweet Poetry : Poems of the week by Mutale Mwamba,Leila K’ano and Kapembwa Wanjelani

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As we continue to promote Poetry in Zambia ; here are this weeks poems ,enjoy.

live show this Saturday at La Gondola Arcades. 19:00, K30 000 entrance free snacks available.

DEAR Mr PRESIDENT, by Mutale Mwamba

I came back to this country, a graduate, you offered me nothing but unemployment.

While you employed the corrupt and illiterate.

Time and again you said “diaspora come back home”.

 

I don’t care, MMD or PF government, all i want is basic services.

All i want is food water and electricity,

not all this nonesense of “more money in your pockets” while you subject me to poverty.

I have the money to pay my bills but then you deny me basic services.

Cutting off water, and all this loadshading, causing blackouts.

 

I am not an idiot, more money in your pockets? Is that the best you can do, how about, bonds, equity savings and investments,

 

Mr. President what are you doing in government.

The mobile networks are a joke, Airtel is a mess and soon MTN will be worse.

Zamtel, don’t even get me started, you sell, and then you reverse.. But the basic services still fell to impress.

 

The police useless and corrupt, issueing a police report with no reciept, just a simple piece of paper with a simple date stamp, easily photocopied and duplicated, yes with

MTN requiring a police report for sim replacement, the police can now print Money.

Just photocopy the report and don’t issue a receipt.

 

Motorists paying road tax, but do they get discounts for all the potholes?

This country is becoming a joke, we are still talking about simple roads, building schools when are we going to talk about research and development that kind of progress?

 

Mr. President, please tell me in a single sentence, what are you doing in government?

I am tired of mere rhetoric, promises upon empty promises. What is the government doing when an employer can get away without paying what is due to me to collect.

 

Here is an idea Mr. President dissolve parliament, infact the entire government, and simply let anarchy prevail, survival of the fittest, many of your ministers won’t last.

 

Dear Mr. President, make this your prayer.

“I pray Michael Mutale will go to church every Sunday, and pray everyday”.

Yes it is only my own conscious that keeps my intellect at bay, but if this nation and your governemnt keep frustrating me, i will be forced to unleash my intellect upon this state, to bring it to it’s knees, that is, i’ll lock all the doors, with i alone holding the keys.

 

Yes that is how a villain is born, Mr. President

When you irritate and frustrate the wrong person, and they decide to unleash upon you, their intellect.

 

Signed Not by Anonymous but by

Mutale Mwamba

 

WHAT SHE SAID by Leila K’ano

Cold winds blow past graves

She sits on them and these winds she inhales

There is no sun, neither moon nor stars

But there is life where she is, she inhales

Its of winds like these! She says;

Live Life, Live Fast, Live Hard, Live Long

Soon they will be around to take you, those that take souls

They go wherever the wind goes

They go wherever the wind blows

 

There’s is no sun, neither moon nor stars

But there is life, where she is, she inhales

But no breath is enough to bring back life to that which darkness embraces

Its of days like these! She says;

The cold winds will blow us waves, we too will steady our sails

Carry On, Be Strong, Bear All

Soon the sun will be around to melt away the darkness

Soon the sun will be around to melt away the sadness

 

SHADOW PATHS by Kapembwa Wanjelani

I walk a path many fear to,

Tales of it hard but still I chose to,

Restlessly morphing into the perfect Key, That would set in to set free

My eyes that I may see, The person that’s hidden deep within me.

This path just hides me more,

Pushing me back, that I become King, But just for show,

A motionless wind that serves no purpose,

That a Scorpion sting

be the only thing

that may bring

about a ring

as the toxin…

sips into my veins to sing.

Another reality steps in,

As the bubble… continues to rot from within.

I could stay here, seriously I could,

With my mind care free, all my decisions I would woo

Raise my hand to rule, from the fool to the tycoon.

Deliberately become rude, cause everything I want I will do.

I will…

Shoo you,

Stop you.

Clap two,

Am full.

Pass through,

Love True.

Conclude,

Then sue you.

No Clue?

I will crush you.

Get you,

Asking for permission to use the loo.

See… This path just hides me more,

Pushing me back, that I become King but just for show.

So I put this path behind my back

And take a path that cuts me no slack.

Where sticks and stones caress my soul, then break my bones.

Where my painful groans

be the only song that resounds as the early gong.

Here pain is gain, daily fighting my flesh hence in chains.

At this pace Lord let it rain as I let go of my gravy train.

It does get easy but then gets hard,

But down this road I will go as far

Cause… This path just finds me more,

Raising me high cause Jesus is Lord

By Kapa187

19 COMMENTS

  1. I wanted you as the apple of my eye
    You wanted the apple I pad

    You had an angels face
    Lips curved like a quarter moon
    Eyes of a brighter star

    But you had an ice cold heart
    The outpourings of your mouth were like the eruption from a volcano
    Out to destroy, out to consume

    You made me the victim of your face and heart
    Transfixed by the beauty of your face, I couldn’t move
    Then the outpourings of your heart through your mouth came
    I was the target
    I was destroyed by the outpourings from your heart and mouth.

    • Nice piece man… Filled with emotion!! on Facebook there’s a group called BitterSweet Poetry Zambia a hub of Zambian wordsmiths and lyricists were you can put up your pieces and have people and fellow poets recognize your work!!

  2. The Mr. President one is immature. You have fallen in the trap of being too political and accusing government for your misfortunes. Shame on you! Leila K’ano- Excellent stuff!

  3. Mutale Mwamba, you should have stayed in Diaspora, you knew there were no job for you in Zed or otherwise suck it up!

  4. Reuben#
    But how come i have enjoyed yours? Short and packed!

    The rest, keep it up, we may just not be on the same wavelength

  5. Mutale Mwamba, Unless you are deported the only reason you return from Diaspora is if you have been offered a job in zed with a house and a car or you have a concrete business plan. You don’t return because, on your last visit to Zed you mate a ca hot UNZA babe and all you can think of is returning to her in zed. Then you expect GRZ to provide a job for you. Forget!!! US Zambians have to develop Zambia and create jobs for you guys that don’t have the initiative to employe yourselves. Cry as much as you like but GRZ and Foreign investors will not create meaningful employment for all in ZED. Look me up next year I’m returning to Zed to expand my business maybe i might offer you a job if you are honest.

  6. I like this poetry thing. I was writing poems and opted to stop because I thought people don’t like it. I am now encouraged.How can I send my poems for publication. I have a lot of them on different subjects

    • Its SAD to hear that Mr Chirwa… However, hope we can get you inspired again. Check out the BitterSweet Poetry Zambia group on facebook a hub of Zambian poets well vested as well as appreciative of these literal arts… or contact [email protected] and we can get chatting on how to get your work published! Many thanx!

  7. Rose,
    I loved you!
    Perhaps i was so busy persuing my own ambitions,
    that’s how I knew I loved you.
    If only you had lived a little while longer, we could have gone out and plug the fruits of Love together
    That’s how i knew i loved you.
    But now that you are gone, the effort is not worthy the taste and
    that’s how i knew I loved you. Ro..se, Rooose! Who killed my Luv! Rooooose!

  8. Nice piece man on Facebook there’s a group called BitterSweet Poetry Zambia a hub of Zambian wordsmiths and lyricists were you can put up your pieces and have people and fellow poets recognize your work!!

  9. @ baron well a letter can be a poem,
    @ CHARACTER ASSASSIN 00 immature? really that’s all you had to say.
    @Ngambela well i heard about that and as one who has been in the diaspora in botswana as well that too irritated me some what, Zambia has great potential more so than botswana but we need the basics to be in place. for one we export electricity and yet still suffer load shading for what?
    water bills are cheap enough but the quality of services are poor, as the water supply is often enough being cut off.

    And well i am a bit dissapointed that of the people who commented on the piece missed the issues and jumped straight to condemning,
    examine the issues raised such as a being charged for a police report from the “POLICE SERVICE” and there being no accountability,

  10. I’ve been browsing on-line more than three hours nowadays, but I by no means discovered any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty value sufficient for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content as you did, the web will probably be much more useful than ever before.

  11. Michael Mwamba Mutale!! Tone down and get down to business. It is unfortunate you are blaming the government for staying away from Zambia. Settle down and do not hate. you will soon find a job.

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