Voices from another world
Speak to me in my sleep
A tongue that my children cannot speak
I whisper to them the words in their sleep
The music of the ancestors;
The music that speaks to the heart
I am the world
The stone sculptures
The wood carvings
Speak of a world that I once knew
The gun, the musket my ancestor used to make
Marimba, Mbira the sound of ancestral music
The house of stone
Dzimbahwe – the seat of kings
Zimbabwe – my home; my first love
Where stone virgins sing as they grind the grain
The sound of the boys, the cattle bells, sheep bleat
This life I have known
I have a story to tell
A story about the police;
About the soldier who threatens rather than protect
A story about moving
A story about changing
My tongue changed
My views changed; I am new
I am a hybrid
Shaped by my experiences
Shaped by the people I have met
The education, the food
My country of birth
A religion that I was forced to adopt
A religion that is now part of my milieu
I used to dance under the tree for the harvest
Now I sit in cathedrals for harvest
I used to play the instruments that speak
to the ancestors; the departed
Now I sing of a Lord whose home is in the sky
Christmas
Easter
New Year
These festivals I now celebrate
I am Shona
I am Zimbabwean
I am British
I am a multi culture
Many people have touched me
Beliefs have shaped me
Cultures have changed what I eat
But I am still me.
My wife
My daughters
And our new son
These the family make
Then there are my parents
My grandparents
My wife’s parents
Her grandparents
They are still family
Not forgetting the uncles
The nieces and nephews
Family is much more for me
I have told
you who I am
Now will you
tell me who you are?
©Gabriel Gidi
