A Poem by Tendai R. Mwanaka

LOVE CAN BE

The last

      of the sun’s light-
      gilding the lone bird’s,
      flighty feathers.

Women

      whirling before-
      an inner eye, heads thrown,
      in an ancient movement.

Straggling
      across long-dead...
      faces, the mating dance,
      of African women

Like bees

      returning often-
      to their hives,
      our caves are still there.

And love

      can be a lonely-
      estate, of wounded seams,
      and tarnished dreams.

Tendai R. Mwanaka was born in Zimbabwe, in the remote eastern highlands district of Nyanga, in Mapfurira village. Left Nyanga for Chitungwiza city in 1994, and started exploring writing that year, when he was barely twenty. His first book to be published, Voices from exile, a collection of poetry on Zimbabwe’s political situation and exile in South Africa, by Lapwing publications, Ireland, 2010. KEYS IN THE RIVER: Notes from a Modern Chimurenga, a novel of interlinked stories that deals with life in modern day Zimbabwe was published by Savant books and publications, USA 2012, found here; http://www.savantbooksandpublications.com/9780985250621.php. A book of creative non-fiction pieces, THE BLAME GAME, will be published by Langaa RPCIG( Cameroon 2013), a novel entitled, A DARK ENERGY will be published by Aignos publishing company( USA). He was nominated for the Pushcart twice, 2008, 2010, commended for the Dalro prize 2008, he was nominated and attended Caine African writing workshop, 2012. Published over 250 pieces of short stories, essays, memoirs, poems and visual art in over 150 magazines, journals, and anthologies in the following countries, the USA , UK , Canada , South Africa, Zimbabwe, India , Mexico, Kenya, Cameroon, Italy , Ghana, Uganda, France , Zambia, Nigeria, Spain , Romania, Cyprus, Australia and New Zealand.

With messages

Written on the