I thought I knew the Road

Written by Simphiwe Mkhize

Now I know the road:
I saw it in the eyes
Of wailing women in
A funeral parlour,
I saw it in the story of a traffic officer
Mourning the death of
Fourteen victims of
A truck accident
Due to brake failure

I thought I knew the road,
But my eyes saw
One woman
Giving up
Her husband to God
With a smile of defeat
In the presence of
Transport officials

Now I know the road –
I have seen the pain
Of a tearful mother
Still blaming her son
For dying in the truck
That rolled and killed and rolled -
The truck full of people
That fell and fell all the
Way downhill,
People that died and died
In the hands of the force of gravity

My heart dies at the doorsteps of the
Mortuary of a funeral parlour
Whose workers prepare the
Dead to be washed by
Their loved ones

Now I know the other side
Of the road –
The opposite of the bliss of speed,
The bitter salt of women’s tears
When they identify the dead,
The eternal regret of the bereaved
That curse and reminiscence and curse

There is death on the road –
Only those who have eyes will
See:
Asiphephe! Asiphephe!
Arrive Alive! Arrive Alive!

back