Christmas in Zimbabwe
Christmas is mango juice running down forearms
swooping birds snapping flying ants out of the sky
the warm smell of wet earth and the shiver of swiftly growing foliage
fledglings screeching for their parents on dripping branches
and the snap, as you break through brittle leachy skin, and sweet-sticky juice floods your senses
painted-cloud sunsets and thundering rain on tin roofs
praise songs echoing up from the vlei
the smell of roadside mealies roasted on open fires
the smell of Tony cooking the ham and Kate cooking Christmas cake
friends on the verandah drinking home-grown coffee and red wine
dinner on the outside table
as stars glimpse through billowing clouds
our Christmas will be here,
where we have been all along
watching the turning of time
2012 has been filled with wonder and struggle and gratitude and friends and family
with births and deaths and the promise of what is to come
and a deep sense of knowing
that this is where we belong