A Poem by Julius Chingono
AS I GO
My pot is an old paint container
I do not know
who bought it
I do not know
whose house it decorated
I picked up the empty tin
in Cemetery Lane.
My lamp, a paraffin lamp
is an empty 280ml bottle
labelled 40 per cent alcohol
I picked up the bottle in a trash bin.
My cup
is an old jam tin
I do not know who enjoyed the sweetness
I found the tin
in a storm-water drain.
My plate is a motor car hub-cap cover
I do not know
whose car it belonged to
I found a boy wheeling it, playing with it
My house is built
from plastic over cardboard
I found the plastic being blown by the wind
It’s simple
I pick up my life
as I go.
© 1994, Julius Chingono
Publisher: First published on PIW in a special Zimbabwean edition, 10th June 2008
Publisher: First published on PIW in a special Zimbabwean edition, 10th June 2008
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6 Responses to “A Poem by Julius Chingono”
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- bhupinder: Wonderfully well written, John ! Always a delight to visit y
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A quite wonderful sentiment, I enjoyed this one very much.
One of my favourites of Mr Chingono. You might enjoy an interview I did with him some time ago on my blog. His name is on the “Labels” list to the right.
Wonderful. It provokes something of a meditation on ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom to’.
So nice to be careless like the author. I wish I could! But I guess that’s what poetry is for…
I always liked poems of Chingono and this is one of the best of him that lets me feel happy.
Just heard this on Arts tonight on Irelands RTE Radio 1, brilliant ending, totally unexpected.I will poat the link after the show.