Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Joyce Chigiya

GREAT IN ZIMBABWE

GREAT IN ZIMBABWE

GREAT IN ZIMBABWE

Granite, chiselled to size by stone
Building blocks along conveyor belts
Of ebony arms – flag waving.

Complex on rocks is without mortar –
etched signature of the epoch maker.
Conical tower is a giant on placid stilts.

Totems are museum relics. Fish eagles
roost on flag poles – Shards of eggshells
strewn neath the muchechete tree, shine

on borrowed light then shrink to rubble
in light of day. Grit of the mbira from the valley –
rhythm inclining towards the foreigner’s ear.

This is epicentre of the chevron nation –
housed in stones and diamond.
Close

GREAT IN ZIMBABWE

Granite, chiselled to size by stone
Building blocks along conveyor belts
Of ebony arms – flag waving.

Complex on rocks is without mortar –
etched signature of the epoch maker.
Conical tower is a giant on placid stilts.

Totems are museum relics. Fish eagles
roost on flag poles – Shards of eggshells
strewn neath the muchechete tree, shine

on borrowed light then shrink to rubble
in light of day. Grit of the mbira from the valley –
rhythm inclining towards the foreigner’s ear.

This is epicentre of the chevron nation –
housed in stones and diamond.

GREAT IN ZIMBABWE

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère