Worms for Sale

Worms for Sale

Worms for Sale

Tinashe puts up his sign saying “Worms for sale”
But it might as well say words for sale
’Cause he sells words on a daily basis
Words describing economic crisis
And the words for today’s crisis read thus “Worms for sale”
So with three simple words he tells the world his tale
A grown man whose daily toil
Is to pull worthless worms from the world’s soil
’Cause while fat cats feed off fat cheques
He has to feed small worms to his starving chicks
Sitting on a street called Churchill
Wondering if he can pay his water bill

Worms for sale, Worms for sale
Three words telling the world your tale
Mazwi arikutengeswa, arikutengeswa
Nokuti upenyu wakaoma
Worms for sale, Worms for sale
Three words telling the world your tale
Mazwi arikutengeswa, arikutengeswa
Nokuti upenyu wakaoma

Two months later the only change that’s come about
Are two discarded coins that were knocking about
While he was out
Digging for worms
These are life’s daily terms
Scrape the soily surface of life for your existence
But in a land were existence is read to mean resistance
The struggle to survive is criminalised
A poor worm seller’s sign is vandalised
By police officers paid to antagonize those who put up a sign of the times
Nokuti varombo varikutengesa
Ndivo varikurovha
Varikuedza kurarama
Ndivo varikuvharirwa
Muchitokisi
Vachi rovha ne masjamboks
So maybe we can empathise
With those who believe that flight is the best form of fight
Tinashe believes that maybe just maybe
A poor worm seller by day
Can become a beautiful butterfly by night
Today his sign is a bit larger
“European Worms For Sale. Please take me to Kariba”

Worms for sale, Worms for sale
Three words telling the world your tale
Mazwi arikutengeswa, arikutengeswa
Nokuti upenyu wakaoma
Worms for sale, Worms for sale
Three words telling the world your tale
Mazwi arikutengeswa, arikutengeswa
Nokuti upenyu wakaoma

In times of crisis, humour is like rain to hungry seed
Filling the need to stay human in a cold dry sea of inhumanity
Tinashe does just this
’Cause for him humour does justice to the daily crisis
Poor but powerful in the mind
He knows that his sign is his freedom of expression
His worm’s-eye view journalism
In his land where you have freedom of expression but not freedom
after expression
You have freedom to express repression
But that doesn’t deter him
’Cause for his words to spark a smile in one passing driver or pedestrian
Means he’s broken one bar in one little prison
His words refracted through a prism
Where humour becomes hope
“Canadian Worms For Sale. Jesus Christ it\'s desperate, man. Please
take me to Europe.”