Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Chris Magadza

ODE TO A YOUNG MAN

ODE TO A YOUNG MAN

ODE TO A YOUNG MAN

Tread softly
On those wind-swept hills
Where sacred oracles
Of the cold winds of Nyangani
Whispered of a land
Beyond the deprivation;
Of a nation
Beyond the servitude.

Tread softly
Under those mango trees,
For in the shade
Of their learned boughs
His spirit solace
Seeketh yet.

Tread softly
On that ancient veranda.
His brooding, longing,
Lingers in the breeze, rifling
The empty yellow pages
Of unwritten history
And truths yet
To be untold.

Tread softly
Down that sandy footpath,
For there your Father,
Herbert Chitepo,
Left the first foot prints
Of the fated journey
To Zimbabwe.

Tread softly
At St Augustine’s,
Penhalonga.
Close

ODE TO A YOUNG MAN

Tread softly
On those wind-swept hills
Where sacred oracles
Of the cold winds of Nyangani
Whispered of a land
Beyond the deprivation;
Of a nation
Beyond the servitude.

Tread softly
Under those mango trees,
For in the shade
Of their learned boughs
His spirit solace
Seeketh yet.

Tread softly
On that ancient veranda.
His brooding, longing,
Lingers in the breeze, rifling
The empty yellow pages
Of unwritten history
And truths yet
To be untold.

Tread softly
Down that sandy footpath,
For there your Father,
Herbert Chitepo,
Left the first foot prints
Of the fated journey
To Zimbabwe.

Tread softly
At St Augustine’s,
Penhalonga.

ODE TO A YOUNG MAN

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