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Black as I am

Obediah Michael Smith — 2020-07-18T19:46:03Z

Zindsi Mandela
23 December 1960
to 13 July 2020

how like a plant she was
how just planted she was
when, in 1978, her book of poems,
Black as I am, was published

with photographs by Peter Magubane,
Foreword to it by Andrew Young

used to carry her book of poems, 8.5 x 11 Inches,
about with me everywhere I went
used to teach it, used to share it with my classes

recall having it while I taught
at Inagua All-Age School for two terms, in 1986

when exactly did I buy it/from where did I buy it

might I have purchased it from the bookstore
at Fisk University that I attended for a year

I loved those poems, I loved the author of them,
I loved the photographs that accompanied her poems

how I identified with the voice of that young,
female, South African, freedom fighter

somehow, all those years, I kept her as young
as she was when she penned the poems in her book

decades passed without a word about her or out of her
I myself a poet, unable to be quiet, unable to shut up

in the interim, she had grown up, mother with children,
her dad, after 27 years, released from prison

she and her sister whom she followed,
ambassadors, representing South Africa…

heard last night, on Democracy Now, that Zindzi,
Nelson Mandela's youngest child, has passed away, at 59

what a blow to hear that, took my breath…
younger than I by 7 years and dead already

shocked and surprised but, my God,
between Black as I am and now,
what a massive tree she had grown into

though inside me I'd kept her 18
that voice, that child, that innocent

switched immediately from news I was watching,
located on YouTube, an interview, from 2018,
at the Edinburgh International Book Festival,

with Allan Little, where she was launching,
Grandad Mandela, a book about her father, for children

what a great spokeswoman she had evolved into
what titanic strength, what awesome confidence

oh, but how could she have escaped with input
from her parents, Nelson and Winnie Mandela

oh, but so soon she's gone, too soon she's gone

forces that fostered her, that shaped her,
have as well undone her

in what fire was she forged
was it that same intense heat

of being out there on the front line
that has undone her also

how unhappy I am to see her go/that she is gone

I must locate my copy of Black as I am
I must read it again - what an inspiration it was

unable to locate my first copy,
I located and purchased a replacement
from Amazon.com ten years ago

oh, but there is no second copy of her
available anywhere on earth, anywhere in this world

Waters of Baptism

Obediah Michael Smith — 2020-01-19T08:29:09Z

A poem

facts in poems I fashion
are facts actually, usually

going about since October,
last year, for eight months now,
with this interesting information

interestingly, since hearing of this,
it has become even more interesting

since hearing of this, Donald Trump
has become president of the USA

and what makes it
additionally interesting yet,
is that I am at present the guest
of the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral
and his family, here in Blantyre, Malawi

I am certainly very happy to be living
upon the very grounds of the cathedral

which permits me to be served porridge
and to eat it and then to attend prayers,

Monday to Saturday, for 30 minutes,
commencing at 8 AM each morning

the Dean of the Cathedral
and I are friends, I can certainly say

our friendship commenced, actually,
with our very first meeting,
a conversation in his office
which lasted for more than 4 hours

it was in that conversation when I was told
of the Dean's having sojourned in New York

as a younger priest, told of how, in 2007,
after a baptism he performed, he was informed
that he had just baptized the grandson of a billionaire

that billionaire being, Mr. Donald Trump,
same Donald Trump who, ten years since
is the 45th president of the USA

amazing how humble the Dean
of the cathedral is

his wife and he have four daughters,
he was born in 1964, ten years after I was

wondering ever since hearing this story
if Donald Trump is aware
that this humble African Anglican priest
baptized his now ten-year-old grandson

this poem is my attempt to whisper in his ear
to make a connection for whatever it is worth,

with Malawi and the president of the USA
with Donald Trump and Blantyre, Malawi

with the president of the USA and the Dean
of St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, here in Malawi

small world, certainly is indeed a true statement

same Donald Trump used to own
what is now Atlantis, on Paradise Island,

largest tourist resort in the entire Bahamas
where I am from

how our lives touch, knitted together,
a vibrant variety of colors to make a world

Is it Necessary to be Nasty to Fix the Sewerage Pipes

Obediah Michael Smith — 2019-09-07T07:10:17Z

old as he was
how surprising it was
to hear he has died

end of a life, end of a time
a long life, a long time

a life of dissent
to say, I object and not care
who he offended takes courage

to live and be
unpopular with so many
in so many constituencies

in the powerful countries
of the world

to be as stubborn as that,
as Fidel Castro, as Lee Kuan Yu

but
it cost him, his country,
his people economically,
it cost his country its currency

when it came to be worthless
it was replaced, at one time
with South African Rands
and after with dollars of the USA

what conviction, how tenacious
that he seemed not to be affected
by embarrassment nor humiliation

he believed in himself, in his stance
he would if he could, singlehandedly,

break the back
of the idea of white superiority

he was not going to be one
to bow down to it
to genuflect, to accept

it was equality that
he wanted established,
restored, that he wanted to bring about

without waiting centuries
for people of Africa and of
African descent to evolve

his life, a revolution even if of one

he'd be an upheaval
like when/like what
nature throws up

without caring what was spat or spewed
or what or who was crushed
in the rage, in the wave
or when earth opens up

what can be achieved
when our aim
is to be nice, to be liked

when these govern
our decisions, our actions

oh, the beauty that follows after
or that is attached to disaster

the cataclysm that resulted
in what is now Victoria Falls

how phenomenal, how awesome
and with what power

nature spreads its wings
and commences to fly

all the planets in the universe in orbit

in our short lives, fewer usually
than 100 years to live,

leaves little or no time
to be nice, to be liked, to be shy

Shall I compare thee to a Summer's Day

Obediah Michael Smith — 2018-04-20T05:54:39Z

Shall I
compare thee
to a Summer's Day
[For Winnie Madikizela-Mandela,
26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018]

did she fall
was she fallen

if she did,
when did she fall

did she fail,
was she tarnished

think of Job
and his temptations

think of the trials that arose
all that he was put through,
pushed through

and he did not submit
he did not succumb

I've heard of police officers
interrogating suspects

heard someone tell
of having his head

shoved into a toilet bowl
with feces – police officers

demanding that he confess
that he committed the crime

I know that it is possible
to be pushed
until we break, until we snap

until we are no longer
who we were

did this happen to her

oh, to be pushed past
the breaking point

and what are you then
what are you when this happens

I see books for sale by many
along sidewalks, here in Harare,
downtown – their covers faded

is it that they have been
bleached until bland,
sitting out in the sun

oh, for those in our societies
who have been so stressed,
so deprived, so depressed

that their humanity has been
twisted, damaged,

so much so- to such an extent
that what is left is subhuman,
is scary

what is left are monsters,
creatures who would do you harm
to get one dollar from you

to get ten Rand or whatever
they consider to be valuable

see those for whom
life is worth so little
that they fling themselves down

anywhere upon the ground
and sleep there

sound asleep for hours
wherever they dropped
themselves – not unlike litter

oh, how such souls have fallen
oh, for dignity, for who
and for what sustains it

oh, for that support that
love inspires

we see the crimes
that some commit

for which they are charged
for which they must pay

and often,
we forget to connect
or fail to connect the crimes
committed again such persons

crimes to which
they were subjected
that resulted in the crimes
that they commit, the situations

that they descended into
or were plunged into

in many instances these crimes
are crimes of states
of the state against the individual

Nelson and Winnie, pulled apart,
apartheid separating them

how were they, their children,
supposed to survive that

and in what shape
or bent out of shape

they gave their lives up
for the new state

so that a new
state in South Africa
could come into being