The African Face--By Ndongolera C. Mwangupili--Malawi

The African Face

My face, surreal and vacant,
Rich in melanin;
Ah, an uncanny metaphor
Of gem blackness.

The beard on my chin
Is a testament of absurdity;
Ah, shabby, shaggy and bushy
Like a deserted land
And lank like an unweeded land.

The eyes, like a hemp addict,
Fire-red with fury
Yet the blackness of the pupils
Stands unconsumed.

Ah, my face is unique!

Ndongolera C. Mwangupili works as a Senior Inspector of Schools in Malawi. He has vast experience as a teacher of English and Bible Knowledge. Many of his short stories, poems and essays have been published in the Malawi News and Weekend Nation. His stories are anthologized in Modern Stories from Malawi and The Bachelor of Chikanda and Other Stories. His poem “The Genesis” was anthologized in The Time Traveller of Maravi: New Poetry from Malawi. His other poem “Letters to a Comrade” is published online in India on www.openroadreview.in. He believes that there is a thin line between fiction and reality. All that people write is a re-creation of what is already known to the writer and exists not only in the mind of the writer but also outside the writer, therefore, fiction is actually facts written as if they are not facts. He is married to Angella, and they have a daughter Mary Magdalena.