African Poetry

[African Poetry][bleft]

Courses

[Course][bsummary]

Literary Criticism

[Criticism][grids]

Health

[Health][twocolumns]

THE MARBLE EYE by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali





The marble eye

is an ornament

coldly carved by a craftsman

to fill an empty socket

as a corpse fills a coffin.


It sheds no tear,

it  warms to no love,

it glowers with no anger, 

it  burns with no hate.


Blind it is to all colours.

Around it there is no evil 

to be whisked away 

with the tail of a horse 

like a pestering fly.


Oh! the marble eye- 

if only my eyes 

were made of marble!

No comments: