If Zimbabwe could speak!
By Brilliant Pongo
I am a country like no other
I am Great Zimbabwe
with a heart that pumps full of love for my inhabitants
endowed with an assortment of mineral resources,
Gold, diamonds, platinum and all sorts
My soil rich for flora and fauna
I am great Zimbabwe
My inhabitants diverse rich in culture
I am a marvel, a beauty , a wonder
From Zambezi to Limpopo
Mountains to the east, water falls like the breathtaking Mosi-o-tunya
I am Great Zimbabwe
But, my inhabitants cry.
They cry Great Zimbabwe, ruined yes
Ruined by corruption, crippled by maladministration.
With leaders who are damaged by war and prison, their reasoning poisoned by greed
my veins consequently polluted by their unquenchable vice. I cry.
My diamonds, my minerals sucked by vipers given to foreigner for a pittance
Cry Great Zimbabwe, infected and affected by corruption
They shout from top government offices ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’, I am raped and pillaged
Still I stand as Great Zimbabwe, deeper and deeper they dig for the precious metals I hold
First it was the Europeans now the Chinese, God knows whose next.
I cry for my inhabitants, though torn, ransacked and ruined, I still remain Great Zimbabwe
The political leaders ever hungry for power like idiots they are impervious to their corruption, they mortgage parts if not all of me to foreigners with deepest pockets
A luta continua; my people whisper in hushed voices, while the looting continues
Zimbabwe is open for business, we have signed Mega deals, with China and Russia,
Don’t believe their words;
they’re lies, old clueless pretentious spin doctors fabricating rhetoric to
project a perfect life and
convince the rest of the world that life is normal in Zimbabwe,
I bleed from stab wounds of corruption the leaders of my inhabitants unashamedly pillaging the mineral resources I hold for the people’s benefit, they line their own pockets
My people hungry, the economy in doldrums
The beat goes on, the song is corruption, day and night.
My Society ruined, my own children rape me, (Mashurugwi) hold me down spread eagle, while the Chinese ravage me.
But still, I am Great Zimbabwe,
In the dark of night my people cry, but by day on their faces a smile you see;
it’s a facade to conceal
searing pain, acute shame,
sheer heartache. Forced to watch mother Zimbabwe repeatedly raped by her own children corrupt politicians.
I am Great Zimbabwe
Don’t get fooled by the laughter that echoes from Harare,
from Bulawayo,
from Gweru,
from Masvingo,
from Mutare and all my towns;
it is merely an echo
of hollow insides, yearning
for senses to return. My citizens drowning in the corrupt mess brought upon them by a government of idiots great and small.
Don’t get convinced by those calling themselves Christian Prophets, they speak heresies declaring the political leadership is God inspired.
don’t be fooled by the feigned order presented by the military forces;
borne in attempt to
control the chaos
and pacify the storm brewing inside.
Don’t be blinded by
The perfection I exude,
The courage my inhabitants fake,
The innocence my people feign,
The confidence Citizens wear-
For I am broken, polluted by corruption raped and scandalised, my mineral wealth looted, I cry. I am Great Zimbabwe
A luta continua; a vitória é certa, the struggle continues; victory is certain.
I am Zimbabwe.
The Great Zimbabwe, if I could speak.
