THE DAY WE BURIED OUR BULLY by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali
Through years and years
of harrassment
we tolerated his hideous deeds:
girls abducted,
boys assaulted,
women molested,
and men robbed.
Our fear made him our master.
One day
old warrior Death
whipped out his 38 special
from its holster
and felled our tormentor with a single shot.
We turned his corpse
into a piece of meat
tucked in between
the sandwich of soil
black like burnt toast
ready for ants and worms
to eat for breakfast,
and excrete as manure.
We laid wreaths
of withered flowers
to fill his grave
with an odour of decay
wafted by the wind,
As mourners smiled
through tears of relief,
'Lord! take care of his soul-
though he was but a bully."
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