Charles Lipanda Mahigwe - Poetic cycle - Part -III-
Moderator 
CHARLES LIPANDA MAHIGWE - CONGO
Charles Lipanda Mahigwe President of African Youth Artistic Poetry-AYAP
ON THE AGE OF NINE
The whole world became dark
I couldn't see even a little lit of candle
I could only hear the voice of songs sung
And that voice made me remember
When my mom was still alive
She would sing as a bird singing for her lost ones
It's said that a man doesn't cry
But the tears came out from my eyes as spills
I could count every drop going down my cheeks
Like cars crossing the river's hills
I was the ship with neither captain nor sailor in water
Thinking wreckage was on my way
I had no fear of being called an orphan
But I was afraid to be the orphan
Because orphanage is pandemics in our society
Will these dark imaginings get away?
Is it not just a state?
Don't I breathe as you do?
Am I not a child among children
That you treat me like this?
Losing parents doesn't mean you lose everything
You're still all you were born
You still have dreams to pursue
You still have goals to achieve
You're still having that vision in your life
You're still having that mission in your journey
You're still the one from God
You're no less than the rain and the moon in this universe
At age of nine
I put all my thoughts on the line
But I realize now that
Life is the mixture of sand in lime
Only if you become version of yourself
YOU ARE THE ENGINE OF THE EDUCATION
You're the engine of the education
You're the key of transformation
You're transforming ignorance to knowledge
You're driving our mindset to the bridge
You usually give us hope in desperation
Within you, we find foundation
You make us solve puzzles
Even though there are puddles
Down the soil to sole
Let's take you to the Costa Del Sol
For today is your celebration
'Tis unforgettable day and commemoration
Why should we not praise you
When you turn theory into practical
Like Jesus turned water into wine
You're electrical
For you put everybody on line
You teach us simultaneously
Like the River Congo walking to Atlantic ocean
You're not preachers but you teach us to be good Christians
The Bible says, God blew breath into a man instantly
But you creatively insert education into our into our heart, soul and brain
You're there for us to gain
Of course we're basically taught at our home
But you usually show us that every road leads to Rome
We're sheep
And you're our shepherd
So we're all here bowing
For this is not about gender or mission
But with the consistency
You're the engine of the education
Happy teachers dayt Happy teachers dayd Happy teachers day
October 5th 2022
I STILL HIDE YOU IN MY POETRY
You promised to never leave me
Your words were like sugar squashed in THOBWA
Your smile was the magnet
For it attracted me
And I fell in love
But without knowing that there was a big lie behind that smile
I was like Jesus on a cross
Your own voice pierces my hands and legs
'Tis not a complaint but a complement
I'm not begging you to come back to me
For you've just walked away
And never looked back again
And I liked it
For it's better that way
Because I was becoming ice, melting down
And I was like sand put in water
And only seen when I settled down
Where else should I hide you?
If not in my poetry
For I'm not a bad guy
Although people say that I don't care too much
Damn, I respect my feelings
And I don't want them to drain away
You and I made an alloy
And we vowed to never tear our ties apart
I don't need you no more
For I'm afraid to be erased like writings on a paper
For I lately realized that you're the eraser
But I still hide you in my poetry
For you should feel these feelings stained on my heart
I know that you're not a cure
Although you pretended to be
I opened my heart like a book
And my wounds inside me were exposed for you to see
But despite of healing them
You kept torturing me on them
I thought you know love
But you knew nothing than acceptance and decline
WHO’S BORN TO SUFFER?
Looking at the sky
Different colours swimming the sun
'Tis very bright in my eyes
Unable to see twice
Coz this light is unbearable
It seems like it's going to catch my thoughts
Then I ask you
Who's born to suffer?
This question is hitting my spheres awkwardly
But rapidly and randomly like gas'particles
I never know if a man is born to suffer or to heal
But inside me, there's a voice like zephyr
Telling me "Life is struggling"
So living is precious
And people only exist and that's all
The universe is wonderful
For if you try to look down this Earth
You'll find that we people ,no less than the trees and the stars,
Are suffering
Yet I don't know too much
But I know this
That everybody is born to live and not to suffer
And death is our only passion
But before you die
Make sure you also heal the wounds of this world
For she's bleeding inside her womb
The earth is the only woman
Who's never been tired
Tired of the heavyweight of the atoms entangling on her wrist
But if I try to look outside there
I'll probe that there are a lot of people who need help
Not only financially
But also your inspirations and courage
I'm not talking about money
For some of you are talented
You have got different experiences of life
But can you pick one and nurture it to this nature
I'm sure you have heard of floods in some places
There are homeless, hopeless and depressed
Let's comfort them
For they also have right to know
That nobody is born to suffer but to live and die
But ask yourself before I what will be the influence that I leave for others?
So tell me who's born to suffer out there?
WHEN SHALL MY TEARS DRY?
Death, come and take me, and I'll fly away
Fly away where I won't see tears again
Tears streaming down my cheeks everyday
Everyday that I can't feel anymore pain
Life, surrender me and expose me to vultures
Vultures that can cease me
Cease me that I shan't be see by any cultures
Cultures vulgarize my own family to the sea
My birth is longer zephyr, but rough
My throat becomes needle
As I drink this cup of my own blood
It sours, this soul shall tear apart
I blame my existence on this wicked world
I wish I've never been here
Not only here, but even there
For everyone around me is dead
So am I
I'm dead man walking in space
But when shall my face be tied like lace
I shall go in the woods and here the sounds
I don't need to be tombed
So if I die today, don't burry me underground
Leave me here alone and let me be bombed
My heart and soul shall praise the lord when I'm gone
My mouth and tongue shall sing all along
My legs and arms shall stand and come back home
And my ears and eyes shall go to LUBERIZI River and hear the song
The song once sung by my late father
And I shall be in sombre with my late mother
My late mother shall rise from the grave and kiss me again
And whisper those beautiful words
Beautiful words I used to hear from her when I was I kid
And shall never weep again
For there will be no pain
But when shall these tears dry?
Prepared Angela Kosta
