Chirikure Chirikure is one of Zimbabwe’s leading performance poets. His work is featured on a number of web sites including Poetry International, one of the best poetry sites on the Internet.

Here is a poem written in 1998 which gives some pause for thought today.

We fought the war

Inzwai!
We, in diaspora, overseas, fought this war,
We sourced donations and mobilised foreign support
Yet we never lagged behind in our studies, preparing for the future of our country

Aiwa!
We, the boys in the bush, fought the war,
We pulled the trigger, politicised the masses
We slept in the bush – cold, rain or shine.

Bodo!
We, Mujibha and Chimbwido, fought this war
We were the beasts of burden, carrying arms, reconnaissance,
Washing the fighters’ clothing, cooking for them.

Nyangwe!
We, your parents, the peasants, fought the war.
We supplied the clothes, we sold every beast we had.
We supported with morale and prayed to the ancestors.

Yes, we thank you!
The war was fought, blood flowed, homes were destroyed,
The country we fought for, is now ours, we liberated it.
Now, whoever among you has got the key,
Let him open the granary of the country and give us a little grain to cook the little ones a little sadza.
See how parched their lips are?
Like refugees of war.

This entry was posted on April 8th, 2008 at 4:27 pm by Bev Clark and is filed under Elections 2008, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.