Poem

Tari Mtetwa

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Original language

First

First

First

Still and silent
my foetus grew
in the warmth of your womb
my first home

lean and trembling
my lips drained
the providence of your breast
my first meal

weakly and wobbly
my feet tramped
the strength of your lap
my first journey

nervous and unrefined
my wail blended
the notes of your lullaby
my first song

© 2011, Tari Mtetwa
Publisher: First published on PIW,

Tari Mtetwa

Tari Mtetwa

(Zimbabwe, 1982)

Tarisai Witness Mtetwa was born at St Augustine’s Mission near Mutare, and had a largely rural upbringing. He attended both primary and secondary school at St Augustine’s. Mtetwa began writing poetry at high school. “Even though I was not in a literature class,” he says, “I earnestly read all the books that fellow students were studying. I then developed an interest in literature, poetry in par...

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Poems of Tari Mtetwa

NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE A RIVER

First

Naked

GRAVE-DEEP WHISTLER

Rock

Here

WITHOUT-A-NAME

POTTER’S SONG

Outside

OLD SCHOOL JAM SESSION ON RADIO

Close

First

Still and silent
my foetus grew
in the warmth of your womb
my first home

lean and trembling
my lips drained
the providence of your breast
my first meal

weakly and wobbly
my feet tramped
the strength of your lap
my first journey

nervous and unrefined
my wail blended
the notes of your lullaby
my first song

First

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