STRAY
Why the chicken crossed the road
Once served as a joke outside
Of ours, we cry foul
The single worthy possession of my kraal–
Our tsômbu[i]
We grew it to become our oil
One day the ill fates threw it out.
The wings and legs
Whose footprints only knew our compound
Decided to test the outer grounds.
Three days found it not
Till a tarred road
Proclaimed it the victim of road madness.
This evening
We all sit with our beloved’s carcass
Knowing there will be no income for a long while
Gone is the feasted fowl
And while the gloom eats our speech
The tears and silence quietly ask:
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Su’eddie AGEMA
9th April, 2008
