Last Night it Fell in my Sleep

By Shepherd Motelebane Motelebane

Last night it fell in my sleep
A hushed downpour pelting
The iron roof of my languid house

The stars above faded
Hide behind an idle moon

Serowe drinks in the dark
And the glug … glug of her
Thirsty gulps is a lullaby
That sends me into slumber land

Last night it fell in my sleep
Serowe drinks in the dark

And out of her belly
Emerges sounds of the rain
A symphony of frogs peppering the air
And yet the night is empty
Of rain games and giggles
It is her streams I hear awakening
And the heat recoils into the sleeping sun
While she melts into rivulets

Still the stars above faded
Hide behind an idle moon

Serowe drinks in the dark
She drinks until her tummy bursts
Into a dawn of weeping clouds

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Shepherd Motelebane Motelebane is a Motswana born in Soweto, Johannesburg. His home village is Serowe where he has a homestead, though he has spent the better part of his life living in Gaborone. A Social Worker by profession, Shepherd studied for a Bachelor of Social work at the University of Botswana. He is now retired and has started working full time on creative writing. He is a published poet with several poems published in three separate poetry anthologies in Botswana, edited by Barolong Seboni among other editors. He also ran a column in The Midweek Sun called “The Poet” for about two years. Furthermore, two of his poems won a poetry competition conducted by Mmegi Publishing House for two consecutive years. He has published some short stories with Kutlwano and is currently working on a short story and a novella.