Wizard. Witch. Sage

I am part wizard
Part witch
Part sage

Part humble
Part hubris

Part book shelf
Part wine rack

Part archive
Part stage

Part classroom
Part hand-in-hand sweat

Part hidden in footsteps
Collecting the imprints

Part standing on beach
Commanding the waves

Part heart of the march
Part inch above the head

Part sleep
Part death
Part umbilical cord

Part past
Part hope

Part you’ll-never-believe-me
Part challenge me, I’ll swallow you
Part hold me I’m hurting
Part Superhuman

Part dancing
Part weeping

Part wizard. Part witch. Part sage.

Heritage day

What do I wear on heritage day?

A map of stolen land
A veil of screams

Rape

High heeled shoes
Made of bones
Of slavery

Rings of border wars,
Indentured labour

Arm ornaments
Beaded delicately
In languages lost

Necklaces
Of bullets
Collected from bodies

My hair tied with rainbows
That double as nooses?

I will wear nothing.
Not even words.

I will just wait for Nonqawuse
And the New People
to rise from the soil

Trophy

Yesterday
I heard that the man who
Raped my friend
Speaks of the accusation:
"This chick is accusing me of rape".
He speaks of it
Almost with pride.
A subtle boasting
For this particular conquest.

I have decided to honour his
Treatment of this:

The next time I see him
I will cut his penis off,
Hand it to him to mount on his wall
A trophy
To commemorate this rape.