– an e-mail to Nyamalikiti Nthiwatiwa at Wits University , Johannesburg , South Africa

your theory-laden brain might think we
all dream sweet potatoes and ripe tomatoes
and a free Zimbabwe where billions
have become useless; where trillions
no longer matter; where counting
starts in zillions as valueless as
toilet sheet; where tyranny
has lost its democratic mask

but at The Diplomats downtown Lilongwe
morality is competing in value with the Zim Dollars
down there in the gutter. Noise pollutes the city
deafening our ears with praise-songs of new democrats
night blends with the darkness in the minds of men –
a recipe for doom. This drinking and smoking
this erotic dancing by half-dressed queens
frustrates the efforts of an ambitious nation

under the cover of darkness there is a hit-and-run
a life poisoned by some stubborn virus
at home the spouse dreams a prosperous Darfur
forgotten voices paid attention for once
and a China that doesnʼt arrest poets
her dreams are not suspicious of the darkness
the blanket that covers Lilongwe ʼs evils
at midnight.

________________________________________
Nyamalikiti Nthiwatiwa is a Malawian poet
The Diplomats is a famous nightclub in Lilongwe
Chinese poet, Shi Tao, was imprisoned for 10 years in 2004 for exercising his freedom on speech