Rukweza farmer | Forest songs

Rukweza farmer

vakuru vakati
pasi kare makunguo aidyei
here  
bestowed the honour of wasting time 
precisely 1hr15 minutes 
i turn to the timely tone of timelessness 
return to the wilderness of imagination 
the rukweza farmer sits 
guarding the precious rukweza crop 
guarding against makunguo 
the winged intruders who disrupt 
to steal the precious rukweza crop 
and yet shumo the proverb asks 
pasi kare makunguo aidyei 
in the absence of the farmer's field
what do makunguo eat 
vakuru vakati 
kurodza demo hakutambisi nguva 
the rukweza farmer sits still 
the rukweza farmer sits in silence 
and yet shumo  the proverb suggests 
kurodza demo hakutambisi nguva
silence is not wasting time 
it is preparation for speaking 
stillness is not wasting time 
it is preparation for action 
the rukweza sways in the wind 
but is still confined to boundaries
of the farmer's field 
the rukweza is kissed by the sun 
but it was not the caress of the wind 
that brought it here 
here 
the rukweza does not grow wild 
here 
language does not grow wild 
it is restrained by tenses 
it is confined to boundaries 
of the farmer's field 
the manicured field of grammar 
and yet shumo the proverb remains 
pasichigare 
ancestors are not in the past present or future  
ancestors are boundless 
in the wilderness of imagination 
in storytelling 
in mbira melodies 
rukweza is not tamed into a crop 
rukweza grows wild here 
here in 
pasichigare 

Forest songs

as travellers strive 
from origin to destiny
there's a little bird
who wings the forest

in familiar landscape
or don't know the way
there's a little bird
who pings the forest

tired and hungry
worried and thirsty
there's a little bird
who brings the forest

as different truths
fight over her name
there's a little bird
who kings the forest

a medium connecting
worlds to other worlds
there's a little bird
who swings the forest

from ancient times
travellers have known 
there's a little bird
who sings the forest

written and performed for the
International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) conference,
July 2021