April Poetry Month

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April is National Poetry Month.   
MEASUREMENTS

Yours is not to ask

If I know what I have

Behind my back

How can i?

I’m not a crab which walks sideways

I’m an African gazelle

My neck is my binoculars

To assess my immediate

Surroundings and where

I want to go to look

For food, love and sleep



Don’t vex my behind

With statistics from Milan runways

Aerobics and bun-masters

Bathroom scales

And diet drinks


Yours is to question

My origin and when you do

You ought to lie down

At Africa’s feet to thank her

For the genius which

Is my behind



© Nonqaba waka Msimang, from Maple Syrup, a collection of poems.

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