Tribute to Julius Chingono - from Fungai Machirori

Grief is not…

by Fungai Machirori

Grief is not

brief,

It does not fleet past your eyes

like a blinding light

dazing your world for just

one second;

one nanosecond

ticking backwards

in the clockwork of your mind;

Grief does not

tick

then tock

then tip-toe back into the

dark

like a guilty thief;

for grief feels no guilt,

just greed

that devours the light,

eats at it like a touch of paper parched too dry

crumbling into scales

that collect on the floor

and cut through the flesh of the soul,

the soles of your feet;

Grief cannot be wept away,

cannot be swept away;

does not flicker past your eyes

like a white light

you can

blink away;

For grief is not in the seen;

It is in the unseen;

And grief is not the thief;

It is the stolen.

Photograph and poem reproduced with permission from Fungai Machirori.

Performed on February 8 during the tribute to Julius function at Theatre in the Park in Harare, organised by the Embassy of Spain to Zimbabwe.