Ndaba Sibanda’s poem: Fly Your Flair


Listen, my son, listen to the sound of a calling.

Don’t you hear or feel a stout or a solid inner force,

or a need, an urge or instinct toward a definite course of action? 

Where do birds master the art of flight? Please tell me. Where?

How did they learn to take off, to regulate the two signs of direction

they are hopping in and the volume they rotate (field) their frame or body

as they quicken in order to remain balanced during take-off or departure?  

Where do fish master the art of swimming? Who is their swimming master?

What would happen if tortoises suddenly tried to perform like fish in the water?

Would they thrive?  You’re right, they are incapable of swimming! They are slow,

but they are able to survive lengthy periods floating at sea because they can endure

months and months with neither food nor fresh water. They know their capabilities,

their personality traits, their circumstances.  They understand their calling. It’s natural.

 

Think of gurus in power-diving, those that strike prey from remarkable heights, think

of flight speed, or diving speed, think of peregrine falcons, Saker falcons, Golden eagles,

Grey-headed albatrosses. The falcons feel exceptionally qualified to do that and relish it passionately. Would cheetahs be the fastest land animals on Earth and the world's 

fastest mammals if they abruptly thought of flying like falcons?  Dear son, remember, birds

have particular feathers for flying. Follow your passion, hone your skills, fall in love with what

you do best, align your career with your gift. Your livelihood. That’s fertility. A force to grow.    

Let it glow.  Dance to the music of your calling. Devote. Do it wholeheartedly. Fly that flair.  


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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