She wakes up before dawn. Mounts
her cardbox cubicle on the pavement
at a street corner. It is chilly and windy.
Without delay she pours cooking oil
into the aluminum container perched
on a three-legged stand under which
there are popping flames of fire.
In the yellow bowl she stirs the flour
with vigour . The fire is warming her up.
With her hands she squeezes the flour
into fist-sized lumps and drowns
them into the blistering oil.
Over a short space of time the blazing
oil turns the floury swellings into brown
round buns commonly known as magwinyas.
With her fork she pierces each baked brown
roll and shrugs it off into another vessel.
She yawns. The heat is soothing. It is coaxing.
She has to sell these chignons to eke out a living.
A single parent with four dependents. Like a thief
something sweeps her away. Siesta says sister let us go…
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Ndaba @starrider
I am a published writer, former National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) nominee, a writers` association chairperson, an English lecturer, an international ESL and EFL teacher and tutor , book editor ,conference producer and researcher. In 2005, my nationally acclaimed book, Love O’clock was published. In 2006, I edited a poetry anthology, IT`S TIME…In 2007 I was in a team of young writers` editors/mentors on a British council project, Echoes of the Young. 2010 saw me contribute to an international edition -Poems for Haiti, a South African anthology. In 2012 l contributed to the following international poetry collections, SNIPPETS and Voices For Peace respectively.Go to Ndaba's profile, and read more of his/her posts.
When I saw the title, Magwinya, I knew it would be scribbled by a person with South African affiliation. I did enjoy those balls of flour while I was in Botswana. Nice write.
You were dead right. Thanks for tucking into my magwinyas!
Magwinya? Isn’t that the same as puff puff or buns?
The poem succeeded in making me hungry…as for unique depth…I don’t know…
Thanks. You certainly need a bite of those flabby buns to quench your hunger.
Beautiful and pointless.
Honoured to hear such beautiful words. Thanks.
At least two more stanzas are missing from your poem, Ndaba. Please, where are they? :-/ Enough said.
[Mind the areas where you began to prattle like it was prose.]
Nice, all the same.
Indeed ,some stanzas are missing. Let me see if l can fix this.Thank you.
Hmmm, Some Siesta that must be, a few suggestions available on request, nice poem but like @kelechi noted it seems half formed, and incomplete…. Good work though
Suggestions noted. Thanks.
Nice one…
Thanks for dropping a comment.
Siesta says sister let us go…
YES…much respect!
Good