We asked a young Zimbabwean to write down his views on last week’s election. He wrote a poem instead.
Beyond it all, I will find myself
By Tatenda Chinondidyachii Mashanda
Beyond suffering
There lies my heart in the gully of despair
There lies my hopeless soul in the gullies of calamity
In the angry pits of poverty
My heart doesn’t know how to smile
My heart never learned to smile
My heart was meant to smile
Beyond Despair
There lies my brain in waste
My brain wants to cry but tears have dried
My brain has wept enough, maybe
Maybe there are no tears beyond despair
There lies the future of nothingness
My brain, my heart, my future has been padlocked
Beyond suffering, I will find myself
I will find my revolting spirit
But, just beyond.
Tatenda is a budding offensive realist, and a writer sometimes
