Friday, July 13, 2012

The beast

We heard screams from our neighbor
Screams of panic, screams of fear
That so hurriedly
Dragged us from our homes

 “Its wild cat after my only fowls!”

We came back home
Wondering why a small wild cat
Would scare the neighbor so

Another day, the screams again
This time there was urgency in them
Its like death was knocking
On his mabati door

“It’s a hyena after my goats”

We held our laughter and anger
One in each hand
And walked home in the cold

The screams, on another day
This time much louder, much tense
The devil himself must have visited

“Look, a leopard after my only calf”

It was gone
The man rolled on the dewy dirt
Crying that now he was done

We walked home confused
Not having found how to feel his pain
Or even understand if there was cause for any

Back home,
The kraal was empty
The pigsty was empty
The chickens hut, poor thing,
The door was on the ground!

We sat on the dew
Wondering
What if?

Karani Kelvin

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