You embodied the phrase
"eyebrows knitting together"
I don't know how exactly
but that's just the way I see it
See them
Every expression under (over) lined and highlighted
permanently marked
in our memories
An evil grin
A secret joke
An intense stare
Sometimes mystery
sometimes silent shadow
yet
I always noticed you
Amy and I had to sit on your table in the Dining Hall in form 1
- back when boys and girls did not mix
But I didn't mind, underneath my sarcastic responses
and awkward attempts at blending English into Zambian skin
You made the tasteless leftovers served for supper bearable
If we could rewind
I'd sit next to you all over again
Two years later
Beside Kundalila Falls
I burned my finger on a stone from around our Bronze Expedition fire
And cut the finger off a rubber glove to protect it
You laughed and said it looked like I was wearing a condom
I stomped off blushing
All-too-easily-embarrassed-adolescent
But I laugh now
You always had jokes and an eye-twinkle and it didn't seem to matter much whether anyone else joined in.
Life was there for the enjoying.
I went to your farm once
A swimming gala weekend in Lusaka
Your parents took us out for a meal at Spurs
And Wesu tried to teach me how to trot
You weren't there
But I can imagine you riding horses
Alongside the granadilla bushes
I'm glad I have that photograph behind my eyes
Glad because when I looked
today through albums and scrapbooks
You managed mainly to stay hidden from view
But I don't need paper to remember
Mwape
Chilling at the basketball courts
Creating miracles with a pencil
Sixteen now and
standing under the gumtrees with Melinda
Another picture etched in my memory
More smiles
Ten years on and we've touched down
In different tongues and towns
Our paths didn't cross again
But you were never mine to hold onto
You belonged to the stars
Twinkling in and out of countless lives
It's been more than ten years
But I had plenty tears for you
This Saturday when I heard
"eyebrows knitting together"
I don't know how exactly
but that's just the way I see it
See them
Every expression under (over) lined and highlighted
permanently marked
in our memories
An evil grin
A secret joke
An intense stare
Sometimes mystery
sometimes silent shadow
yet
I always noticed you
Amy and I had to sit on your table in the Dining Hall in form 1
- back when boys and girls did not mix
But I didn't mind, underneath my sarcastic responses
and awkward attempts at blending English into Zambian skin
You made the tasteless leftovers served for supper bearable
If we could rewind
I'd sit next to you all over again
Two years later
Beside Kundalila Falls
I burned my finger on a stone from around our Bronze Expedition fire
And cut the finger off a rubber glove to protect it
You laughed and said it looked like I was wearing a condom
I stomped off blushing
All-too-easily-embarrassed-adolescent
But I laugh now
You always had jokes and an eye-twinkle and it didn't seem to matter much whether anyone else joined in.
Life was there for the enjoying.
I went to your farm once
A swimming gala weekend in Lusaka
Your parents took us out for a meal at Spurs
And Wesu tried to teach me how to trot
You weren't there
But I can imagine you riding horses
Alongside the granadilla bushes
I'm glad I have that photograph behind my eyes
Glad because when I looked
today through albums and scrapbooks
You managed mainly to stay hidden from view
But I don't need paper to remember
Mwape
Chilling at the basketball courts
Creating miracles with a pencil
Sixteen now and
standing under the gumtrees with Melinda
Another picture etched in my memory
More smiles
Ten years on and we've touched down
In different tongues and towns
Our paths didn't cross again
But you were never mine to hold onto
You belonged to the stars
Twinkling in and out of countless lives
It's been more than ten years
But I had plenty tears for you
This Saturday when I heard
With sincerest condolences to those who knew this man a lot better than I did.
I'm grateful our paths crossed, even just for a while.
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