The Second Coming of the Songbird

BY WABWEKA


Cry my beloved country, read the Preamble
“The gods of this city are dead and forgotten
The bonds lie threadbare and flesh rotten
Godless children grapple and grumble

No ways, said the content, no ways!
“Burial breaks no bone and gods remain upright
Ancestors’ graves become gravel sites
And their remains highways and taxiways”

Hear hawks hover, blared the gong
“Behold dare devil pops and descends at will
Landing, cruising, swooping for a kill
And finally pounces on helpless chicks for another song

Arise countrymen, shouted the conclusion
But the watchdog was not too old to bark and bite
Empty and hungry, the hawk flew out of sight
For even the songbird that sings for the gods lands

END NOTE
Completed on 17 April 2000 just three weeks after Malawi’s High Court in Lilongwe rebuffed Madonna Louise Coccine’s application to adopt Mercy Jere. Coming against the backdrop of the fast-track adoption of David Banda of Mchinji two years ago, the second coming of the celebrated American pop star brought into question the efficacy of ‘archaic’ laws and the strength of the age-old bonds in Malawi, a country where it takes a whole village to raise a child. Whither the spirit of oneness if our children – the so-called orphans – end up in orphanages where they can be adopted, instead of their next of kin’s homes where they can be nurtured and feel at home?