Maun International Poetry Festival

I will be performing at the first Maun International Poetry Festival in Maun, Botswana (26th March 2011). The festival is organised by Poetavango Spoken Word Poetry and powered by the Department of Arts and Culture. Other performers will include renowed poets and storytellers from across the country and more from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Namibia. It will be a feast of words! Check http://www.poetavango.com/ for details on tickets prices, performers and other information. Preparations for the festival are ongoing and it surely will be an event to make a mark in history.

What If Light Was Dark? (Poem)

What if left was right and right was left
What if wrong was right and right was wrong
What if Black was White and White was Black
What if this side was that side and that side was this side
What if Light was Dark and Dark was Light

Would the stars twinkle up above
Whispering in their glorious languages
Would the moon caress the earth with its warm tongue
Its soft touch
Imposing the greatest seduction that cannot be resisted
Would the bats and owls survive an alien world
How about the so called Witches and Wizards
Would this be the end to their dark world of broom sticks and needles

What if long was short and short was long
What if fat was thin and thin was fat
What if old was new and new was old
What if big was small and small was big
But what if Light was Dark and Dark was Light

Would the sun still bloat in it’s majestic kingdom
Boasting of an everlasting dominion over the inhabitants of the earth
Would the mornings shine with their golden rays
That awaken mankind into a sweet, sweet day
Would the evenings fade with a charming red ball in the western horizon
Would night sweep over and take over the kingdom    

What if empty was full and full was empty
What if male was female and female was male
What if dry was wet and wet was dry
What if hard was soft and soft was hard
But what if Dark was Light and Light was dark

Would the charming streetlamps of big cities glow up the avenues
Would the sunflowers flourish their colours under the glare of the sun
Would the lizards bask to the delicious warm rays in the freezing cold
Would the fire burn in the middle of the night
And the drums hit in a traditional celebration

© Dredd X

I Want To Write (Poem)

I want to write and write and write.
I want to write thousands and maybe millions of words.
 I want to write until my computer runs out pages.
 I want to write until the curser can’t blink anymore.
I want to write even as my fingers ache from punching in the keyboard.
 I want to write.
 I just want to write and I don’t care about the eyes that itch from the glare of the monitor.
I want to write words that will be read by eyes that
understand the meaning of every line and in between them.
I want to write.
I just want to write.
I want to tear words from my guts
and scatter them across the black sky and make them shine like stars.
I want to plough words on the barren sands of the Kalahari and make them grow like vegetables.
I want to write. I want to write about love and happiness. I want to write about anger and hate.
God and Lucifer. Black and white. Young and old.
 I want to write words that praise, that curse,
words that scream, that whisper.
I want to write and write and write.    

© Dredd X

Heads or Tails (Poem)

It’s been over a year

Since you’ve been running through my mind,

I’ve been trying to find a way

To let you know of how I feel

But you’re on the other side of the fence

A fence that cannot even be touched

Were are on opposite faces of the coin

You on the heads, me on the tails

No matter how much I flip the coin
You remain on the opposite

Always at the top, this poor soul at the bottom

Good lord, how am I to reach you

So untouchable like a pearl in the sky

Yet thoughts of you make me feel so high

Now there’s a storm raging through my heart

Blowing this soul apart 

Feels like I can run away

To a place so far away

Where this heart will dissolve

And these feelings varnish away

I don’t wanna feel like this

Whatever land you’re living in girl

I hope it’s treating you well

I’ll build a glass box around you

So they see but can’t get through

But I always think about the chains

That are locking me away from you

Only in my dreams can I break them

I’m thrown into a cold, cold place

If only I can see your face

Guess what?

In my mind I’ve created a world for the two of us

It’s a crazy world built on the foundations of pure hallucination

For every time I think about you

It’s like taking a drug too severe

For my sensitive brain

I flip the coin again

This time you are on the tails, I am on the heads

See….opposites again

Now there’s a storm raging through my heart

Blowing this soul apart

Feels like I can run away

To a place so far away

Where this heart will dissolve

And these feelings varnish away

I don’t wanna feel like this

© Dredd X

She Belongs To Me Now (Poem)

Man to man is so unjust
yes I agree
but what is justice, you tell me

I thought of phoning you but instead I resorted to writing you a letter
For sometimes when words are read they sound better
please be warned that these words may be hazardous to your heart
A severe stroke or a fatal heart attack may follow
But who cares? Maybe God does, but I don’t.
See, you and I do not have anything in common
except that what used to be yours is now mine

not many brothers are honest enough to say it point blank
that, look, your woman has just turned into my woman
not that we share her, no, no, no
simply, you have been expelled
of course its sad that you and her never had any disputes
but boy the winds of change blew her to my direction
for I am the source of her complete satisfaction
wipe off those tears, damn it!
you are not a baby

this woman deserves a man who knows
and practices the meaning of true love
and you are not such a man
you have never been such a man
in truth, you are only half a man
she needs a man who can hold her in his arms
and not only tell her but show her that she is the vessel of his existence
the fountain of his happiness and the ever flowing river of love
step aside and I will show you how to treat a woman

some say one man’s loss is another man’s gain
your loss my brother is my gain,
listen I just called you my brother
you must be mad over that
but I wish you happiness, really
No need to clench fists
No need for a battlefield
of course you may see it as an act of war but hey
it’s an inevitable move good for you and good for her
but most importantly, good for me

remember I said I don’t care about your feelings
days of sorrow will reign in your life  
but you should have seen the signs, poor boy
instead you were blinded by her charm
unaware that she was never ever meant for you
you probably thought what you had was too good to be true
well, that’s it
it was too good to be true
this woman is mine
She belongs to me now
and you can go tell it to the mountains
blessed is the hand that giveth, remember
you just gave me the only thing my life needs the most
God will bless you
peace be unto you

© Dredd X

Princess of Devine (Poem)

Come, Princess of Devine
Hold my hand and let’s walk on the clouds of ecstasy
You are like showers of blessings to me
Nourishing the soils of ultimate love that the creator
Designed for the two of us
Yes, a special order
You see, you and I do not care about this Valentine’s Day
For we know not who Saint Valentine the Roman is
And neither do we take part in their paganism
We stay entwined, immortal and invincible
Walk with me on this road of eternal sunshine
To where the stars twinkle above at the black sky
Where the moon bloats and smiles
Sending illuminations that paint our world in a golden carpet
You the Queen, me the King
Empress, Mother of creation
Oh, how I love it when you do that
The sway of your hips as you walk gives me the goose bumps
The radiation of your smile weakens my knees
Even when our brown skins melt into one another
Our heartbeat is inseparable, its one
Beating in the heavenly skies like Nyabinghi drums

You, my beauty
We walk in the steps our people, the Bantu
The Bemba, the Igbo, the Nguni,
We are not lost in the unrealistic, robotic modernity
We swim in the rivers of wealth
The air belongs to us
When it rains, sweetness, it rains for us
Pain is not meant for us, tears are not meant for us
You, Princess of Devine
Together we are the future
Together, we are humanity…

 © Dredd X

Those Days (Poem)

Could it be the sound of the wind hissing through the leaves
Or could it be …wait a minute
It must be the inner thoughts of my mind
battling with shields and spears hitting in the distance
like the chants of the bongo drums
the drums that awaken spiritual consciousness
hit by the rough hands that built the mud huts in which we dwell
the scratched hands that sculpted the canoes that float us to our own wonderland
the spiritual sound of the drum bellows in the mighty heavens
remembering the times when unity, peace and love were one
giving me the freedom…freedom
giving me the freedom…freedom

The drums free me from the illusions that cloud our daily lives
they journey me back in time when reality was real
when a mother could hug a baby and sing her a lullaby
now the manufactured mass produced plastic mothers
don’t even know how to hold their babies
back in time when a father could pick an axe to collect dry logs
that would keep the family warn in the biting cold
gathered in love around the warm orange flames
telling stories of wisdom
giving me the freedom…freedom
giving me the freedom…freedom

Kingdom of the sound of the drums hitting in the distance
echoing rhythms of joy and happiness
feet stomping on the ground in synchrony
celebrating the germination of another baby into the kingdom
the times when rains would nourish the lands
and crop fields will blossom with abundant food for everyone
the music of the drums resonate with peace and happiness
They remind me of the days when respect was the order of the day
When a child would greet every elderly person they see in the streets
Good morning my son, good morning my daughter, God bless you
now the little mongrels will tell you are not my relative
Humanity is related
it’s not blood that you ask for when you are thirsty
give me the freedom…
To be continued

 © Dredd X