THE WATCHMAN'S BLUES by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali

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High up

in the loft of a skyscraper

above the penthouse of the potentate, 

he huddles 

in his nest by day: by night

he is an owl that descends, 

knobkierie in hand,

 to catch the rats that come 

to nibble the treasure-strewn street windows.

He sits near a brazier, 

his head bobbing like a fish cork

in the serene waters of sleep.

The jemmy boys

have not paid him a visit,

but if they come 

he will die in honour, 

die fighting 

like a full-blooded Zulu-

. and the baas will say: -

'Here's ten pounds. 

Jim was a good boy.'

To rise and keep awake

and twirl the kierie 

and shoo the wandering wait 

and chase the hobo with 'Voetsak'

To wait for the rays of the sun

to spear the fleeing night,

while he pines 

for the three wives and a dozen children 

sleeping alone in the kraal

faraway in the majestic mountains 

of Mahlabathim

'Where I'm a man

amongst men,

not John or Jim 

but Makhubalo Magudulela.'

• knobkierie: knobbed bed stick or club (Afrikaans) 
• Jemmy boys: burglars armed with crow-bars jemmy boys 
• Voetsak!: be off! with an implication of contempt (Afrikaans)