By Dr Teedzani Thapelo When the king died, they wrapped him first in leopard skin,Then in silence, then in the heavy fraud of praise.The drums said mountain.The women said father.The councillors said sun.The cattle lowed as if history itselfHad lost its horn. But beneath the skin, inside the dark republic of flesh,The first priests had... Continue Reading →
By Dr Teedzani Thapelo Every orgasm rehearses death. The body knows thislong before philosophy arriveswith its books and trembling explanations. The old French called itla petite mort—the little death. But beneath African skiesthe body understood alreadythat sex and death drinkfrom neighbouring wells. The same hips that conceive childrenwill one day stiffen beneath burial cloth. That... Continue Reading →
By Dr Teedzani Thapelo i wake with the weight of sixty years, the days pressed deep into my skineach wrinkle a map of lost vitality, a fading memory of strengthmy bones creak as i rise, joints groan with the labour of livingthe mirror reflects a stranger’s face, each sagging line a betrayal;once, i stood tall,... Continue Reading →
By Dr Teedzani Thapelo i stand here, lungs heavy with the ash of indifferencegrey tendrils curling like smoke from a fire that never coolsevery breath i take—half stolen, half given back—draws poison from skies that once held songbirds in dancenow crowded with the quiet choke of our forgetting. my chest feels the weight of cities... Continue Reading →
By Dr Teedzani Thapelo i am adrifta body unmooredskin parched,dreams broken into shards of salt. the mediterranean whispersa monster without mercy,its tides are not waves but teeth gnashing, grinding relentless,pushing me farther from the land of my mother’s bones;the desert taught me thirstbut this blue mouth teaches me hunger. i came for the lightcities that... Continue Reading →
By Teedzani Thapelo i am the silent part of the machineforgotten gear in the belly of its steel hearteach day a copy of yesterday’s grey,i am facelesslost between the minutes clocked in.but last night in the static hum of the factory floori dreamed of unemployment like a field of wildflowerswhere the air smelled of freedom... Continue Reading →
By Dr. Teedzani Thapelo Kabelo closed the thick case file and rubbed his eyes. Another not guilty plea for another client whose innocence he doubted. Through the window of his small law office, Gaborone’s late afternoon sun cast long rectangles of light across the cluttered desk. Dust motes swirled in the beams, dancing idly above stacks of... Continue Reading →
By Dr. Teedzani Thapelo upon the hill, where shadows creep,a house awakens, never asleep. its shingles curl, like brittle bone,its walls moan softly, a hollow tone. windows gape, unblinking eyes,reflecting pallor of ashen skies. the air within is stale and thick,a charnel breath, fetid and sick. the stairs sag low, their joints decayed,steps of marrow,... Continue Reading →
By Dr. Teedzani Thapelo i speak into the void and the void screams back at menot with a voice but with pixels and codes,fingers fly, thumbs swipe eyes locked in glowing boxes;everything is here but nothing is real. i miss the touch of skin the warmth of a smilewhere did you go human?buried in wires... Continue Reading →
By Teedzani Thapelo Beneath a sun cast cold by ash and smoke,I tread these paths, where once laughter woke.These mountains, once our haven, stand unbowed,But echo with the silence of the shroud.The land, once lush, lies broken, scarred, and bare,A canvas painted with despair.The plague, a serpent, coils in sunlit air,A whisper of oblivion, a... Continue Reading →
