by Ndaba Sibanda
Stha says you expect me to be your lover
And keep you company, keep you happy.
But you treat me like a collapsible chair!
A chair you slump onto when there`s no softer one.
I want you to hold me in public every time –
not just when you’re tired of her
or when she’s not around
and you tiptoe to me.
Like a camp chair, you collapse me into everything:
cousin, neighbor, school mate, study mate, even spiritual sister –
depending on who we bump and where.
But when I tell other people we are chameleons,
they have no sympathy for me;
they don`t see why I cannot keep you out my life.