MY SHADOW, COURAGE by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali

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My shadow is a fox-terrier named 

Courage; it follows me wherever I go,

it snarls and snaps at all gremlins 

that lie in my path waiting to ambush me; 

it stops to sniff, sneeze and piss on a telegraph pole, 

and leave a message for every potential follower, 

'I passed here; follow if you dare'

Alas! that night I heard 'The knock' 

it was at the door of my heart,

the knock that deflates your balls, 

the knock that makes your hair roots 

run tip-toed in circles on your head.

O! Courage! you deserted me,

you tucked your tail under the legs 

and crept into a ragged bed of fleas 

leaving my nakedness exposed

I shivered for the snake suit

shed in the grass.

Fingers digging at the sockets, 

my eyes flew with fear 

and teardrops parachuted out.

A nose poked the navel with a deep stick 

and out fled a pair of laughing lice 

giggling like benzine drunk urchins

evicted from my bountiful pantry of poems.

I looked at my watch,

it was long past midnight.

My teeth itched to sew a thread

on a piece of bread-and-soup.

My hand groped for the doorknob of daybreak 

and the morning mist smacked my face awake.

I looked at myself. 

There I was. Shadowless there I was.

Empty, like a hulk 

waiting for a demolition squad

O! Courage have you forsaken me forever?