Victoria Falls Poem by nkosana Mpofu

Victoria Falls



Shimmering expanse,
Mercurial waves spark,
Sheer water, rolling en masse,
Hauling, scooping, depositing,
Looping, splashing, endearing.
Frightening, magnetic beauty.

Suddenly!
She breaks into an escarpment,
A lonesome, thunderous cry.
Mighty fall; water frays into a vail.
White lace hides stack rock,
Escaping droplets mimic a rain forest.

Her dominance surpasses life;
Deafening sound, a fractured flow,
Tiny droplets turn into mist;
Rainbows sprout everywhere,
Trade appreciation for colour.

Heavens bow overhead,
A column of mist lifts skyward;
Soft cotton wool clouds,
Eclipse the river's spirit to her communion.
Gigantic ephemeral, misty statue, defies proportion.

Boats, log troughs, yachts,
Toy on the dazzling waves;
Cameras clicking and flitting.
Yoke-golden reflections at dusk
Assure her of the next dawn.

Sun/water romance intensifies at dusk.
Tired kudus, hares, cows
Elephants, elands, buffalos,
Zebras, impalas, monkeys,
Flock to the river for a drink; humans to celebrate her beauty.

The whistling, flitting, grunting,
Croaking, chirping, cooing,
Bellowing, trumpeting, quaking,
Preening, bathing; the spattering,
Kissing, hissing, the clicking - all this you are missing.

Wild fires stopped by her hips embarrassed;
Fierce battles, floods, she mocked;
Conquest, colonisation she knows;
Clumsy reign, tribal, racial vices,
Decades of rituals and rites,
Desertion and influxes; an inventory her tales.

Sacred goddess revered,
She wails, thunders, she whispers,
Granted warnings, guidance to her people,
Generations gone, drowned with the codes.
To defy time and terrible regimes,
She stands rejuvinated.

Mosi-oa-tunya
The smoke that thunders;
She sings her song of plenty, quietude, Optimism, despair, laughter, pain spirituality.
She knows it all,
Mystic.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Madumbu Tavonga 24 September 2021

Amazing

2 0 Reply
Ramesh Rai 26 September 2013

A beautiful sketch of Victoria fall. loved it

3 0 Reply
Prasanna Kumari 05 December 2012

the grace and grandeur of the waterfall is fully developed through your words...

1 0 Reply
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