Poem with no point
By Pius Nyondo
Give me quinine
Not these sweet drugs that don’t kill pain
Tell me the truth
The whole truth
Nothing but the truth
Not these flatters you call criticism
Tell me the truth
Paint me black
Be free to attack
Come close and narrate
Real, heartrending stories
Tear provoking stories
Not your cheap fairy tales
Not like the one you told me the other day
Of a man you claimed was a deity
A man you alleged rose on the third day
A man you bragged was not spiritually dirty
A man you always fail to defend
Yet to him you always crave to ascend
Please spare me such worthless tales
Tell me the truth
The whole truth
Nothing but the truth
Look me in the eye
And convince me
How an ordinary created creature
Came to being without the normal reproductive system
Changed water into wine without any chemical reaction
Walked on the sea without sinking
Ascended into heaven
Whilst gravitational force watched
Please convince me
How an ordinary thirty-three year old Jew
Convinced you
That one plus one plus one
Can still equal to one
Tell me the truth
The whole truth
Nothing but the truth
How could a mere man
Die, start smelling and then rise
Friend, spare me such scrap
Tell me stories that will make me shed tears
Real tears, not crocodile tears
Stories that will confirm that I am nothing
Stories that will explain why I am still unemployed
Years and years and years after university education
Tell me stories full of the truth
The whole truth
Nothing but the truth
Stories that will explain
Why all of our politicians are liars
Why hospitals are no longer places of healing
But valleys roaming with shadows of death
Friend tell me stories
Stories
Stories that will appeal to me
Stories that will make sense to me
Stories that will explain
Why HIV/AIDS is still claiming countless lives
When everyone knows how to avoid it
Tell me
Please tell me
Why millions still smoke
When honestly they are told
That smoking is hazardous to their health
Please tell me
Why aged leaders still cling on to power
When capable juveniles are there
Please tell me
Tell me stories that will make me laugh
Stories of parliamentary chit-chats
Stories of parliamentary fist-fights
Please tell me stories
Stories that will make me fume with anger
Stories of why sixty-year old men
Rape nine-year old girls
Stories of why respectable men
Leave their lovely wives in their homes
Only to seek solace in Chigwiri night queens
Stories of how
Your so-called Mother of God got pregnant
With her virginity intact
Tell me stories
That will make me blurt out curses
On the perpetrators of all evil
On the architects of the Jewish massacre
Be frank with me
Tell me the truth
The whole truth
Nothing but the truth
