Poem: My not so ‘Worn out Dusty following Brown Shoes in the House of Stones’

By Mirriam Kwenda Mutize

So I was reflecting on events in the world and I wrote this reflection

My not so ‘Worn Out Dusty Following Brown Shoes In The House Of Stones’

What a time to be a Follower
What a time to be a House made of Stones
What a time to be Brown
What a time to be Shoes?

Somewhere Followers are being persecuted.
Somewhere not too far from home, Houses Made of Stones (Dzimbadzemabwe) are being demolished
Somewhere my fellow brown shoe brothers are being shot with their backs turned!
Here I am! Over worn!
I feel trodden upon, dusty and weary..

As I sit in meditation and reflect
I know that although
I am worn out,
I am strong, I overcome,
I stand tall
My mind is my strength..
I will see clearly that the earth is full of goodness, despite the harshness I have witnessed and endured.
As a result, I smile, I embrace and I love all.
I have no partiality
I have no suspicion
I take more steps with confidence, I trust, I keep following.
My mind is not Crushed
He that I follow is a rock
He is my pillar.

Not bad at all to be
‘Worn Out Dusty Following Brown Shoes In The House Of Stones’
Being worn out is experience
Being Dusty is evidence of my experience
Following is my belief and conviction
Being brown is my identity
Being shoes, I am overlooked, often noone thinks i have a mind but I have seen dusty roads
I ask you to put me on just for a day,
you will know how I feel.
I live in a house made of stones
I fled persecution and hunger.. I
took refuge with the neighbours, they too started persecuting me
I turn on the TV my following brothers
are being shot, killed for believing
What a time to be me!
Despite all this I like me
I would not change me

Mirriam Kwenda Mutize