Joseph Maliyakini FROM ZIMBABWE
Creative Poems by Joseph Maliyakini from Zimbabwe
- Africa is my Motherland
Of the purest heart,
Oozing with devine love.
Her touch likes the softest wool.
Her hug like the warm summer night.
Furthermore, her eyes shine like the stars in the sky,
Beautiful like the flowers in spring,
Caring like a newly mother
Her love like the ocean that never vapours.
Ooh hail Africa,
Ooh hail the mother of all,
Let glory shower upon you,
For your goodness can never be justified.
Ohh Africa my Motherland,
How beautiful you are,
From the East to the west,
From sunrise until sunset,
Your beauty is unending.
Truly I say,
Great and awesome you are,
Beautiful culture and lifestyles,
Ohh hail Africa,
My Motherland.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- This is my home
This is my home.
The place of unending beauty
The land of opportunity
The pillar of strength!
Unique in its own special way
Peace and Love are its pillars.
A home to everyone,
A pillar of strength to the troubled.
What better home is there in the world.
What is it that is there,
That is not here,
Ooh! how rich you are, Africa,
Ooh how blessed you are.
I can’t help but smile like a retard,
Whenever I think of you,
Ooh Africa my heart starts racing
You are my heart,
You are my home.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Africa is the best place to visit
Like a love girl,
Is attractive to the gents,
So is the loving Africa,
Attractive to the outsiders and insiders
From the East,
The Sun rises
Chasing away the darkness,
Leaving the beautiful stars and the moon,
Left homeless in the clear skies,
Creating an unrealistic wallpaper in the skies
Like the king claims its place,
The sun dominates over the moon,
Shining on the face of the earth,
Giving life to the plants,
Giving light to the animals.
The count-down starts,
It either you hunt or be hunted.
It is the life in the wild,
You have to kill to survive.
The child of the soil,
Rejoices every day,
For the gift of life and the chance to change,
To change tomorrow to be better than yesterday.
As the sun fades away,
Twilight’s emerge from the thick bushes,
How beautiful it is to watch them disperse.
The stars regain their power and start shining again,
The moon regains its authority
And start to give to those that were sleeping in the day.
Ohh Africa,
How beautiful you are,
From the North to the South
Your beauty is just out of this world.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- African Woman
Only praises come to mind,
Only praises come to mind when I think,
Only praises come to mind when I think of you,
Only praises come to mind when I think of you African Woman.
Your boundless beauty,
No words can ever match it,
Only the heart can worship it right,
Make me wonder if God only took angels to be African Women.
Your heart,
It is like of pure gold,
Incalculable like the black diamond,
It gives life to everyone and its love is boundless.
Ohh African Woman
How great you are,
The culture,
Teacher,
The promoters of our culture,
The teachers of life,
Ooh, African! Woman
How great you are,
Respected you are,
Cherished you are.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- I am the voice of unknown writers.
It’s been long,
It’s been long since I was heard,
Since I was heard from my dark pit of sorrow.
Far away I was,
Dumb in the jaws of death,
Left for the world only to devour me,
Silenced by the roar of death itself.
Down on the ground,
Weak I was,
No breath of life left in me,
Only a couple of voices raging in my heart,
Restlessly pacing up and down they were,
Their echoes broke the chains,
The chains that were holding me down,
I died, but they didn’t, they revived my soul,
They gave me life and a second chance,
I owed them my life,
I owed them my breath,
I owed them my heart,
I owed them my voice
They are the voices,
The voices that give me sleepless nights,
The voices that are ringing inside my mind,
The voices that were lost and left homeless like I
I am the voices,
The voices that were lost,
The voices that lost their sound,
The voices of the unknown writers,
I was deprived of my chance,
My only chance to live,
My chance to be known,
Savage wasn’t it.
I am the long-lost voices,
I am the voices of the unknown,
I am the voices of the silenced,
I am the voices of the heirs to the throne.
Cam to proclaim my place,
Came to proclaim my throne,
Came to take back what is meant to be mine,
came to claim the audience I was deprived of,
I have come a long way to be heard.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- My true identity is found in……
My name doesn’t reveal my identity,
My family doesn’t reveal my identity,
My complexion doesn’t say anything either,
But what really defines my identity then,
Who am I,
No one can answer,
My own self might even fail,
Fail to answer the honest question truthfully.
They say a man is known for his works,
But is that it all,
What kind of work,
Is it the profession that we have,
Or is it the work we do in the community,
That’s why I have a different answer,
My words will help define me,
Like I always say,
The literature defines the writer,
Our character is a part of our identity,
It is like the official language of a person,
It can be understood by some,
It can be decent and good,
It can be vulgish and bad.
It all depends on the person,
Some say their dressing defines them,
You dress decent, and you are decent,
They say a pastor will never dress like a thug.
But for me,
My identity lies in the palms of my hands,
In the blood that flows in and out of my heart,
Transporting the words that are forever in my heart,
Installing them in the tips of my fingers,
With every part of me at peace,
United as one,
I ink it all on paper,
My true identity,
A writer.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- The continent Africa
What can be greater than she,
The one that gives life to all,
The one who provides a roof to the homeless,
The one who heals the wounded.
Honorable is she that gives life to the lifeless,
Honorable is she that gives light in the darkest hours,
Honorable is she that provides guidance to the blind,
Honorable is she that provides love and care to the unwanted.
Ooh Africa,
How they worship you,
How they admire you,
With all your children,
From Cape Town to Cairo,
They admire you,
Jealousy burns through their hearts,
Their blood races at the mention of your name,
Your children are your pride,
They make out the best of you.
Deserts, rainforests, and seas,
They have inherited it all from you
Africa the great one
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Just one visit will make you not leave Africa
The great wonderland,
Wonders don’t stop to declare the land,
The unending beauty,
The beauty of the nature,
The beauty of the wild,
The beauty of the culture,
The beauty of the people,
Only a pure heart will be able to know the value,
The value of the unending beauty,
The mountain scenes,
That makeup the beautiful sunsets and sunrises,
The great deserts,
Dry and hot in nature,
But loving and full of life,
Protective to its inhabitants.
The jungles are of great beauty,
The beauty of life itself.
The value of every breath,
Where every life is equal.
The culture and the people,
The ones with everything at heart,
Seem so old but new,
Respect the past and the future will honor you.
The beauty that lies in Africa,
The heart of the universe.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Give me a chance and see how good I am
Lost and forgotten,
Left for the dead you can say,
Storms withered through me,
The cold pierced through my skin.
But no one came for me,
They all shut their doors on me,
They made the streets my home,
They made me eat off their bins and rubbish.
They proved me worthless,
Irrelevant they said to me,
New names the gave me,
Son of the soil to say.
However this is not who I am,
That is not my worth,
I am worth more than they can imagine,
A dusty diamond some can say,
Give me a little rub and I will shine,
Brighter than the other stones,
A chance is the only thing that can change my fate
I need to rewrite my own destiny,
I have the words,
I have the pen,
I have the paper.
Just give me a chance,
Just give me the opportunity,
I have been waiting all my life,
I was waiting since I had the first word.
Just let me,
Let me and I will show you,
I will show you how great,
How great I can be,
A black diamond hidden in charcoal.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- I am that special African writer
Special I am,
Chosen I say,
Splendid isn’t it,
Who knows except me.
Too proud to say it,
But will always cherish it,
For forever will it be in my heart,
The curse, the gift, and the talent.
I am the one,
The one who was cursed with words,
My heart was filled with words,
Both words of the good and those of the bad,
Words are always ringing in my head,
Like shepherdless sheep,
They roam around.
My fingers tremble,
They can’t hold it all,
They are too heavy,
I have to let them go,
I take the pen,
I pen them down,
There is no time to think,
The words were here even before my arrival,
Hanging in the air I saw them,
With nowhere to go.
I was born to hire the words,
All the lost words have found their home,
They have found their home in my heart,
Now all they say,
I am the one,
The chosen one,
The special writer.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- I am not black but I am African
Black they say,
Black our parents are,
Black our ancestors are,
But black we are not,
Africans we are,
For Africa is our home,
For African is our heart,
For Africa is our strength,
Africans are we of one heart,
Africans are we born of the soil,
Africans are we children of the blood,
Africans are we children of the royal blood.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- My skin color does not define my real identity.
Who are we to define others,
What authority do we have,
What power do we have,
What do we know,
Nothing,
We know nothing,
We own nothing,
Little less do colors have the right,
The right to distinguish,
The right to define,
The right to tell.
Black and white,
They are colors,
They are not people,
So, how can they,
Define us all,
We can define ourselves,
Only one,
Can refine his or her own self,
Racism they say,
Conflicts they rise,
Only because of colours,
Colours don’t define us,
We define ourselves.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Great African leaders
How great Africa is,
The home to all leaders,
The home to all conquerors,
The ones born of the soil,
Groomed from the roots of the deep,
Trimmed by the blades of greatness ,
To great heights they were launched.
The boiling blood,
The blood of our fore fathers,
The blood that seeks greatness,
The blood of Kings and Queens,
Born to rule,
Born to annex,
Born to lead,
Born is he,
African.
Ooh African leaders,
How great you are,
Seeds of the great,
Blooming is your right.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Africa will succeed
You are the best
You are the bravest
You are the greatest
Great leaders you have groomed,
Great kings and Queens you have brought forth,
To the greatest of the world you have given life itself,
Who is richer than you ohh Africa the land of greatness,
The best of all,
The best jungles of all,
The best rainforests of all,
The best game reserves of all.
Ohh Africa how rich you are,
Precious diamonds you own,
Precious gems you value,
Pure gold you have,
Rubies you collect,
Sure greatness is yours,
The throne belongs to you,
Ohh hail Africa the Motherland,
Surely success belongs to you our motherland.
Joseph Maliyalini from
Zimbabwe
- African Man
Man of the moment,
Man of the century,
Man of the time,
Man of the era,
The great,
The great leader,
The great leader of today,
The great leader of tomorrow,
Fools tremble,
At the mention of your name,
Idiots scatter,
At the sound of your footsteps,
The roar of your voice,
Carries great authority,
Authority of the great leader,
The great leader of the African nation.
Honesty is your character,
Working hard is your hobby,
Responsibility is your daily chore
And love is the unknown language you speak.
The great man of Africa,
The great child of the soil,
The great leader of the present,
Who can be greater than you oh African Man.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Nelson Mandela
The great hero of Africa,
The great father of Africa,
The great role model of Africa,
The great leader of Africa.
Who can be compared to you the great father of Africa,
Who can be so loving like you ooh great hero,
Who can be so courageous like you ooh our great leader,
Who can be so generous and kind like you ohh our great hero.
Like a savior,
You came and showed us the way out,
Like a Phoenix,
Rising from the ashes,
You raised to your reign.
Breaking all the boundaries for the child of the soil,
Removing all limitations of the child of the soil,
Erasing the gray line among the races,
Uniting them all as one.
The great builder of all time,
Builded the bridge no-one ever thought of building,
The bridge to connect the of the different races,
The bridge from slavery to freedom.
You endured all the pain they exalted,
So that we can be free,
You lived in the most devouring states,
So that we can live of the royal hood
Like the daughters and sons of queens of our land
Forever remembered,
Forever cherished,
Forever loved,
Forever in our hearts.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- The beauty of Africa
From coast to coast,
From border to border,
From north to south,
From east to west,
All you can do is admire the beauty,
The beauty of the motherland,
The beauty of the queen,
The beauty of Africa,
In her jungles,
Lies the most dreadful of all,
The beauty of the wild some say,
The devour of all evil.
Survival depends on the life of the other,
Where you need to take a life to gain a life,
Like the survival of the fittest,
Only those with the will to live can make it.
The weak and the lazy are the easy targets for the hunters.
Ooh! How beautiful it is,
The joy of living life at its best,
The beauty in the axis of danger,
The fear of life itself as its own strength.
Ooh! How beautiful she is,
With those valleys and mountains,
The fresh whistling breeze escaping through the rustling branches,
The great fragrance and scent of the oblivious forever blooming flowers,
intertwined with the wetness of the leaves and water droplets tingling on the surfaces.
The beautiful morning escaping through the jaws of dawn,
Reflecting the beauty of the day yet to come,
Hosted by the birds of the sky,
Singing and celebrating the beauty,
Colouring the beautiful blue sky,
Inhabitants of the valley joining and singing along in unison.
The day is chased away by the gentle breeze from the sea,
With the small glimpse of light escaping through the mountains,
Creating a great wallpaper in the sky,
One can only keep admiring.
Accompanied by the friends of the night tingling in the sky,
Reflecting the beauty of the souls they are staring at,
As the moon as the honored guest,
Shining bright like always,
Only to show the beauty that lies in the dark hours.
Her culture reveals her true self and personality,
Every detail is like a peace of her heart,
How beautiful it is,
Every part of it tells a story about her.
Her children are a pure reflection of her beauty,
Beautiful and handsome in their own way,
United and loving like their mother,
A reflection of the goodness of Africa.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Africa my Pride
My home,
My pillar of strength,
My Motherland,
My Fatherland,
The host to greatness,
The home to the great leaders of tomorrow,
The home to the queens and kings, princes and princesses.
The house of flames.
Beauty is its language,
Love is its personality,
Kindness its character,
And hard work its gift,
Its heart pure like refined gold,
Ever shining like the diamonds,
Precious like the emerald gems,
And rare like the sea pearls.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- We are the future
Living in the present,
We were presented in the past,
With the dream to be recognized tomorrow.
This is us,
The children of today,
The youth of today,
The youngsters of the present.
They say we are too young,
Too young to live they say,
Too young to lead some say,
Too young to love some argue,
But is it so,
The night might belong to them,
But the morning is ours to reign,
The future lies in the unknown,
With a single twitch,
One youth can change fate,
One child can change destiny,
One youngster can change the world,
Young and stylish are we,
Born in the world of the unknown,
Striving to make a name for ourselves,
Only to make a tiny difference in the world.
Like they say,
Take one step at a time,
The war isn’t won with just a single battle,
And losing a single battle doesn’t mean losing the war.
We sweat today,
So we can rest tomorrow,
We build today,
So we can seek shelter tomorrow.
We are the builders of tomorrow,
We live the present,
We don’t forget the past,
We are the future.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- The diversity of Africa
The cradle of man kind,
The motherland of all,
The greatest among the best,
The most unique of all,
Ooh, Africa! my pride land,
Ooh Africa my homeland,
Ooh Africa my Motherland,
Ooh Africa the royalty land,
Difference leading to the same,
How complicated and simple you are,
Hard to understand by mind,
But easy to understand by heart,
They ask why so many cultures,
How lost they are,
Don’t know the right questions to ask,
There are no different cultures,
Only because we are many,
We are taught in different ways,
How to preserve and protect our honor and respect
Hard to understand by mind,
But easy to understand by mistake,
They ask why so many different languages,
But are they really that different,
Because we speak of one language,
That is love.
Your diversity reveals your beauty,
The difference that meets the eye,
Is the bond that is in the heart,
Grooming from the same roots,
Doesn’t that make everything the same.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- Ubuntu
To be recognized as a person,
To fit among other people,
To be a person,
Then you have to have Ubuntu.
But what is it really?
Some don’t seem to understand,
Some seem to be lost,
Some seem not to get the language
It is the language we all speak,
It is love,
It is the love we have for each other,
It is the love we have for strangers,
It is the love we share with our families.
It is respect,
It is the respect we have for ourselves,
It is the respect we have for our elders,
It is the respect we have for our land.
It is kindness
It is the kindness that ignites in our hearts,
It is the kindness that we show to the outside world,
It is the kindness that we show to one another.
It is the oneness,
It is the unity,
It is the unity we have in our hearts,
It is the unity we have in our communities.
It is our way of life,
It is how we live,
It is how we are raised,
That is Ubuntu.
The characteristics that make up a good person.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe
- My black diamond
Is it an emerald,
No!!!,
Is it a gem,
No!!!,
Then what is it,
It is my black diamond?
My precious black diamond,
As beautiful as your name,
Every detail about you,
Seems to ignite a fire in my heart every time,
Too good for me to handle,
Your beauty overrides my mind,
Leaving me speechless and numb,
With my eyes stuck on you,
Can’t help but steal glances of your beauty every now and then.
My heart is overwhelmed,
It races to the moon and back,
The time never stops running forward,
But I can’t keep up to it’s pace,
I need to move slower.
What can I do,
Every time I think of you,
My blood boils,
I don’t know what to do?
Ooh! my black diamond,
How beautiful you are,
Like a mirror,
You reflect the other side of me,
How I fall in love with you every single moment.
Your uniqueness stole my heart.
Joseph Maliyakini
Zimbabwe