Pains Don't Rhyme
If I were a cheery choiceless poet
I would put my pen to paper
With sickening scrawls rhyming
Oozing with an arresting rhythm
Stanzas a feast for iron-fisted royals
Nourishing the hungry with fistfuls of nothing
Oiling lips of the dying with wet kisses
That none of them may ask why they suffer
But lose themselves in orgasmic sonnets, lullabies, limericks
Snoring in iambic pentameter of life towards dirges
Being a voiceless voice in a valley of wants
I put my pain to paper
Vent verses in ears sealed by seething sirens
Cry like those crushed by supersonic presidential motorcades
Wait like clappers dancing to roaring whirls in helipads
Thirsting for rhymes and chimes of torrid times?
Like silence, this pain does not rhyme
Wabweka is a Malawian journalist and protest poet writing to express himself differently. He holds a BA (Journalism) from the University of Malawi. He has worked with leading newspapers in the country that prides itself as ‘the warm heart of Africa. He believes poetry does not only mirror our world as it is today but also as we want it to be when his daughter Tiwonge grows up to think about her children and their children.
"I put my pain to paper"... from this, comes the healing!
ReplyDeleteDear Wabweka,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Whispers! It's good to see you already have one insightful comment on your heartfelt poem. I hope you enjoy your time spent here. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Blessings,
Karen
Welcome to Whispers, Wabweka!! It is the writing which is the healing, yes, of course, but it is also the inspiration around us which is also the muse to paint with words. And, it is good to be subjected to "both" in a healthy way because anger doesn't solve one thing if it is not healthy either. I am so looking forward to reading more of your depthful and passionate words! Sheri
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Whispers, Wabweka. My what a passionate write! And yes it is good to put your pen to writing about pain. Who can think to rhyme anyway when one is in pain. Just get it down on paper I say. I appreciated your talent in this well written poem with metaphors and similes'.
ReplyDeleteCharlene
well done! keep on writing, you are doing great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, good people. It's great to be surrounded by your niceness. Very comforting. It appears this is home, where I belong.
ReplyDeleteHi Wabweka. Welcome to Whispers. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us. I enjoyed your poem and am looking forward to reading more of your work. Continued blessings!
ReplyDelete-MJ (www.tgbtgpublictions.com)
Thanks very much.
DeleteI lived in Africa (Kenya) for just a few months, but I experienced the senseless horror and hopelessness of violence. Your poem reflects this helpless reaction very well. May I make a suggestion? Give us more! I think the passionate poetry is enhanced by appealing to the 5 senses--perhaps you could add something about the smoke bombs--and also the way the crowd moves like a giant beast--graceful but erratic.
ReplyDeletepain does not rhyme ... you can say that again! thanks for this
ReplyDeleteThanks very much
DeleteJames,
ReplyDeleteA good poem. I see that you are not new to writing, but now with Whispers you are able to gain an international audience, something very few people, poets especially can say. Your poem is a refreshing voice, one that I m sure we will hear more from in this forum, at least I hope!
Your new friend,
David Fox