Tomorrow is Zambia's 50th anniversary of Independence from British colonial rule.
I lived in Zambia from 1999-2001, aged 12 - 15, at a boarding school where my parents worked.
So here's a poem that sums up quite a bit of my experience there.
In the centralsouthernafrican bush
Disrupting Zambia’s maize field and gum tree patchwork
It stands
Grand
Presiding over The Sports Field
That sprints away to the base of the hill with the cross on top
Flanked by tennis courts on the north and swimming pool on the south
The Grandstand
Was the epicentre to my 13-year-old world
As life spun rapidly
Changed dramatically
In a move from Basingstoke to Mkushi
And me -
Trying desperately
to blend in
The grandstand stands
Still
The Grandstand has seen it all:
Sweat, hormones, nakedness and competition
bursting from the changing rooms beneath
Awkward couples huddling under the eaves
[But No Physical Contact Allowed]
“Meet me at the GS at 16:15”
Written carefully on a folded note
I risk breaking a heart
And swim instead
Then lie
Post-pool, cheek-down
On the polished concrete
Third step from the bottom
And soak the warmth into my chlorine limbs
Later
Moths fly from starlight to fluorescent
The pool reflects the moon
And the Form 2 girls dance to Aaliyah and NSync
I watch awestruck by hips and curves
Lacking the moves
Longing for the confidence to try
Clouds hide the moon
The night hides my tears
As we walk back to the dorms
In the morning
Rainy season torrents drum onto the corrugated iron roof
Deafening sleepy pupils to teacher-wisdom
in sunrise assembly
Goosebumps staccato bare brown legs in short blue skirts
I gaze at the hills
And cling to the cross
I lived in Zambia from 1999-2001, aged 12 - 15, at a boarding school where my parents worked.
So here's a poem that sums up quite a bit of my experience there.
The Grandstand
There is a pyramidIn the centralsouthernafrican bush
Disrupting Zambia’s maize field and gum tree patchwork
It stands
Grand
Presiding over The Sports Field
That sprints away to the base of the hill with the cross on top
Flanked by tennis courts on the north and swimming pool on the south
The Grandstand
Was the epicentre to my 13-year-old world
As life spun rapidly
Changed dramatically
In a move from Basingstoke to Mkushi
And me -
Trying desperately
to blend in
The grandstand stands
Still
The Grandstand has seen it all:
Sweat, hormones, nakedness and competition
bursting from the changing rooms beneath
Awkward couples huddling under the eaves
[But No Physical Contact Allowed]
“Meet me at the GS at 16:15”
Written carefully on a folded note
I risk breaking a heart
And swim instead
Then lie
Post-pool, cheek-down
On the polished concrete
Third step from the bottom
And soak the warmth into my chlorine limbs
Later
Moths fly from starlight to fluorescent
The pool reflects the moon
And the Form 2 girls dance to Aaliyah and NSync
I watch awestruck by hips and curves
Lacking the moves
Longing for the confidence to try
Clouds hide the moon
The night hides my tears
As we walk back to the dorms
In the morning
Rainy season torrents drum onto the corrugated iron roof
Deafening sleepy pupils to teacher-wisdom
in sunrise assembly
Goosebumps staccato bare brown legs in short blue skirts
I gaze at the hills
And cling to the cross
Funny how you don't take many photographs of the 'ordinary' every day things. The other photos I had might have caused serious embarrassment to the people in them, so I'll save them for another place, cuz I'm kind like that!
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