Ndaba Sibanda’s poem: Villagers, Plan And Plough First Before Planting 


The villagers listened to an agronomist talk.

She touched on planning, tilling and ploughing

before sowing.  On the need to loosen the soil.

Or else, one harvests what one has sown. Sure.

“Great growers, plant growth is pivotal.

 

Hence, prepare your prized fields first.

Fence off your fabulous fields, shield them.

Decently dig the ground to plant seeds.”

She shone and spoke on borrowed, burrowing bullocks

that had the care, charm and capacity to turn up the earth,

and change a resident’s returns, fortune and future forever.

 

Sihle talked on the relaxation of the soil, on how plowing

enhances its airing and structure. It was about turning

over the soil, the live talk that was aired on radio and TV.

 

Those who couldn’t attend had their gadgets turned on.

They were glued to their speakers and screens like she had

put a spell on them. She received a colossal vote of confidence

that was so seismic and startling it got others sleepless or restless.


Hailing from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, Ndaba Sibanda is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer who has a passion for themes and topics around conservation, nature, development and justice. A three-time Pushcart, National Arts Merit Awards, Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize and the Best of the Net Prose nominee, Sibanda`s book Notes, Themes, Things And Other Things: Confronting Controversies, Contradictions And Indoctrinations was considered for The 2019 Restless Book Prize for New Immigrant Writing in Nonfiction. Ndaba`s novel Cabinet Meetings: Of Big And Small Preys was considered for The Graywolf Press Africa Prize 2018. His five titles are on the Barnes and Noble list of 2024 Best books. 

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