Poems by Ndaba Sibanda

When The Indigenous Peoples Powered Into Protection


their drilling operations
diseased the nearby rivers,
as a result those waterways croaked
into a climate calamity, a mad malaise

the officials were deaf and cold
to the shrieks and shuddering
of the rivers, the forests and foliage,
the beasts and birds, the moon and the stars;
stubborn and greedy, they neither listened
to the firmaments nor the current of air,
they never heeded the pleas of the land, too

the indigenous peoples couldn’t stand it anymore,
they stood up to the most potent oil corporates,
for an attack on the  rivers, the forests and foliage,
the beasts and birds, the moon and the stars
was an assault on their land and legacies,
on their prosperity and posterity,
and one their rights and roots

Frequent And Forceful Fires Foreseen

The deprived indigenous communities
are unshielded and often unasked-for.

Yet these are the caretakers of cultures
and the custodians of the land and gen.

Are they not the ones who ultimately feel
the pinch of the climate crunch the hardest?

Are they not the least equipped to handle
the new crisis, yet the victims of the polluters?

There is a menacing hazard, a heavy horror
of forest fires that calls for bold decisions.

The thirstier the rainforest, the threat
is higher and higher than ever before.


Wildfires have bred nothing
but dismay and desolation.

Recent months have witnessed wildfires
that have caused havoc across nations.

Yet specialists caution that this is just
the inauguration, a maiden statement.


Didn’t the UN Environment Programme
warn of a 14% universal increase

in extreme fires by 2030 and a thirty
percent increase by the end of 2050?

An Ode To The Silent, Selfless, Tireless And Beautiful Benefactors


Warm cuddles and blessings to the sprightly, steady springs 
of hope and care; to the alive – longevity ,love, good health 
and happiness; to the departed – may you continue to rest 
in peace and power forever, memories of your loving care 
are irreplaceable, for motherliness defines & refines caring.    
 
Would this ode be piecemeal, odd, old and cold 
if it does not carry loud and proud commendations, 
benedictions & salutations to the snooty, kingly & queenly
claimants and charlatans  who abdicate their key obligation  
of providing basic prospects for growth, protection & parenting?  

Bravo to the purposeful sisters, aunties, mothers,
to the kind stepmothers, fond foster mothers,
to the amicable, adorable, adoptive mothers,
not forgetting the dear, doting  grandmothers;
for you are all tireless tigresses & torchbearers 
for your cute cubs, countries and continents.        

About the Poet:

Ndaba has authored 30 published books and coauthored more than 100 published books. Sibanda is the author of Cabinet Meetings, The Immigrant With A Difference, Notes, Themes, Things And Other Things, The Gushungo Way, Sleeping Rivers, Love O’clock, The Dead Must Be Sobbing, Football of Fools, Cutting-edge Cache, Of the Saliva and the Tongue, When Inspiration Sings In Silence, The Way Forward, Sometimes Seasons Come With Unseasonal Harvests, As If They Minded: The Loudness Of Whispers, This Cannot Be Happening :Speaking Truth To Power, The Dangers  Of Child Marriages: Billions Of Dollars Lost In Earnings And Human Capital, The Ndaba Jamela and Collections and Poetry Pharmacy. His work is featured in The Anthology House, in The New Shoots Anthology, and in The Van Gogh Anthology, and A Worldwide Anthology of One Hundred Poetic Intersections. Some of Ndaba`s works are found or forthcoming in  Page & Spine,  Peeking Cat, Piker Press , SCARLET LEAF REVIEW , Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the Pangolin Review, Kalahari Review ,Botsotso, The Ofi Press Magazine, Hawaii Pacific Review, Deltona Howl, The song is, Indian Review, Eunoia Review, JONAH magazine, Saraba Magazine, Poetry Potion, Saraba Magazine,  The Borfski Press,Snippets, East Coast Literary Review, Random Poem Tree, festival-of-language and Whispering Prairie Press.

Sibanda has received the following nominations: the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA), 2016 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize, The Best of the Net Prose and the Pushcart Prize.