JOY AND SORROW
Moddy Muponisi
Then a woman said, “Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.”
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily, you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver needs, must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
NOT NECESSARILY
Barney Kanjela
A father is not necessarily a husband
A husband is not necessarily a bread winner
That is the way it is.
A dusty kid is not necessarily dirty
A non-dusty kid is not necessarily clean
And that’s the way life is.
Having wealth does not necessarily bring one money
As that is the way life is.
Church-going is not necessarily faith
Religion and spirituality are exclusive
As that is the way life is.
But an artiste is an artiste and an artiste
He or she is like a brightly lit candle covered
With a bit of oxygen seeping through
The light of ART and craft flames on
As life and art is inseparable
Life is Art as art is life
That is the way we live and survive
On mutually exclusive ways of living
APPRECIATE YOURSELF.
Webster Kamaloni
There you stand with tears in your eyes
Your head down in your hands, crying
What on earth you’ve done wrong
Pleading with me to take you back.
Tears now run down you jaws
You got a nerve to come around here
After all you have said and done.
Pleading with me to take you back
Tears now run down your bust.
I heard you were living in Lusaka
My existence you even denied.
Please go away –
Pleading with me to take you back
Tears rolling down your hips.
Maybe I am wrong and maybe you are right –
Maybe what you are saying
Is the way it’s supposed to be.
Pleading with me to take you back.
Tears now running on your knees.
Set me free
Why don’t you go back?
Get out of my life!
Why don’t you hurry
You never love me.
You just kept me hanging on
Pleading with me to take you back.
Tears now running down your feet.
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