To Mbera, a poem by Rethabile Masilo

Souls are squeezed from moss-free rock,
and men from souls.

You (to whom
I wish a turquoise sky
That beguiles some who die
Onto a cloud to lay their head)
Are not made of chalk.

So what if the boy takes this room
The way he does, wearing your poise
Like a model on a dais?
We will have lived fast and strong
You & I, from our past so long,
Into this grave goodbye.

Pindrop Press, 2012