Published May 15th, 2025
by Zuziwe Ngema
I peek through my cubbyhole's spectacles
Arcadia's alpaca is on a furlough
Saviour's sudor is on a downpour
Steams an ant it won't blur adventure
Sky grey like smoke from the vent tube
Soprano is on scorching oil with the fries
Trillion water guns shooting from the skies
Track stars sprint to habitats its Olympics
Romeo and buxom Juliet in love that leaks
Barbie's black tears kiss her pink cheeks
Pelting down pitter-patter it's a high peak
Pricked leaves flake out they shrink
Drake noodles dripping on the beak
Drops and dust birth choc milk,
Tugela with cocoa flows along
Pores quench thirst like a bullfrog
Drenched roots are like blond dreads
Garden beds turn into death-beds
Branches shiver with goosebumps,
Looking like thorny devils with lumps
Mildew fungus humps to tree pockets
Oak apple in hysteria no hypocrite
Plants gulp drops in goblets
Mud coated kids are meat chocolate
Ballistic she whacks her honeys,
Then she wax her legs the hairy concrete
Durban baptism the fee due prayers,
Not in a nutshell but prayers in layers
The serpent served fluid from jeyes
Lord's ledger is a must balance
It's blessings and prayers in this finance
A run over, algae ran over its over
Bloody rain my red robe blood river
Ben's hut goes back to babbling stage
He is freezing and fuming in rage
Dipso maunders in champagne showers,
He sings truths like a chorus
Oops cubbyhole's scalp is porous
A pool my toes are a starfish
My Pufferfish no sump pump she's selfish
My Bella is drowning a catfish
My belly frowning soggy sandwich
I might put Zeus behind bars,
I'm sober and athirst I will hitch
Note: Jeyes – a fluid traditionally thought to expel snakes.
About the Poet
Zuziwe Ngema resides in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Read the poet's biography on Zuziwe Ngema's Artist Page.
This poem is also featured in Comet #5,
published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Previously published in South Africa Poetry Magazine:
All We Have
by Emma Ferriera
South Africa Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
- Visit the main Wax Poetry and Art Submissions Page to see all opportunities.
- Visit the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
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