Jack Mapanje Poems

When this frothful carnival finally closes, brother
When your drumming veins dry, these very officers
Will burn the scripts of the praises we sang to you
And shatter the calabashes you drank from. Your
...

No, I never thought I'd
return to them so early
but beasts of Nalunga
have a mind of their own
...

Beasts of Nalunga seize
their time when the land
is dry and cave panthers
rip out the frogs that might
...

When their moment comes
beasts of Nalunga respect
no-one, the young, the aged,
the poor must all churn in
...

Ask whoever cares to know
ask whoever wants to remember
ask Chilobwe, Mchesi, other
township or country chiefs,
...

It's after they've drained
the people's blood that
the lion heads, rhinoceros
trunks and hyena hinds -
...

And when riddlers call
beasts of Nalanga spirits
of the innocent that our
hit squads ‘accidentalised
...

So, when the wizards and
witches practise their rites
openly, given the liberties
...