Our Story

i saw and passed a boy

a little few years back

about ten years, his little body suggested

it was in the middle of the day i remember

the burning air wearing us down

we all were tired and beaten

his poor skin had taken it all

he turned to look at me

in his dirty hands, a small dirty ball

hugged to the bare naked chest

black pants ending halfway down the legs

worn, torn and of course soiled

as were the soles of his black thick feet

an unwashed face that morning-

seemed many-even before

he looked at me, he turned

i, taken aback marvelled at the incredibly

beautiful eyes mine saw in him

they told of sad distant real

and sometimes beautiful stories

in my efforts to unravel if mine or his

awake and asleep they tell... of

... our story

our story everybody knows

our harsh hot and cold winds

carrying to the beautiful people here

whispers of tiring and trying

complicated inferiority

that has woven and gnawed into simple minds

yet ours are difficult and almost cursed livelihoods

marked by wounds, winds carried

also in the eyes i saw

a strong unbending will as our dry winter lands

where grows our food

oh! our hunger sits deep in our souls, so plentiful we have

so proud we are

that we are tall and walk

but the dirt is on our hands, our skin

we also learnt from the fire we have always seen

in skies just before our bright starry nights

then light up some more

we dance with it, around it

and get joy from leaping flames, leaping hearts

in our confused, diverse directions

it still belongs with us

to stand on ground of unshaken faith and truth

rid illusions, yes we can

with hope and trust of better things to come

so the stories are neither mine nor his

i smile in my thoughts now

i saw a spark, i saw a spark in him

yes i am left marvelled and puzzled

just a little content

i forget not the eyes

no, we are not much different

just different roads and roles we find

we have to walk and play in life.

This poem is part of an Anthology— Botswana Women Write that the English Department at the University of Botswana put together, although published by the University of KwaZulu- Natal Press in 2019.