Posho Tree Poem by Chiraka Muhura

My dear tree
I have spent my whole life
As a sacred goat
Day and night
Making you grow healthy
For me to be proud of you thereafter

Friends of mine thanked me
For taking care of you
During drought and rainy seasons
And expecting you
To honour me wherever you go

You showed me
Your humility in the process
That you could be my shade for life
That made me put my whole heart to you

Now you are high enough
Spreading your branches
And your roots too
Which enrich your trunk

Posho tree
What have I done to you?
You even suffocate the only small trees
Which I try to grow from
Taking everything of them
Into your thankless stomach!

You have refused to provide
The fruits I expected
But you only claim more and more of mine
Telling the world
That you’re special
And you need special diet
That comes from posho!

My dear posho tree
How special are you?
Taking every little bit
I endlessly toil for
Or sleeping and clapping your bloody hands
For every fire flames
Spelt by your big mouth

Posho tree
Was I wrong to grow you
Out of a million trees?