of the 
Walter Chakela 
Worker 1: 
(Exclaiming in sudden shock) 
No! This can't be true! 
Worker 2: 
What's wrong now, Kgositsile^ 
Worker 1: 
Look at the eleventh page of the newspaper 
Worker 3 looks at the said page, but cannot see anything 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol 2 No 3 GLENDORA ...»
Worker 2: 
I don't see anything here. What are you talking 
about. 
Worker 1: 
That small column hidden in the left corner of the 
paper. 
Worker 1: 
(Reading the column). 
The poet laureate of the township dies in hospital. 
(Turning to Worker 1) 
Worker 2: 
What are they... 
Worker 1. 
(Interrupting him) 
They are referring to Ingoapele Madingoan. They 
are referring to the people's poet himself. 
Worker 3: 
But I thought the people's poet was 
Worker 1: 
(In a sudden outburst) 
Nobody is the people's poet but him! 
Worker 3: 
I was just... never mind. 
Worker 1: 
(More to himself). 
Why now, poet? Why now and not earlier or later. 
Now was not the right time for your departure. Earlier 
would have been more tolerable, for those were times of 
death. Later would have been better, for then, surely, you 
would have finished your task. Now is too late and too 
soon. By God, how can we lose you now, poet. It is now 
that we need you to give us your clarion call: On your 
marks, get set, ready, go! Run Africa! We need to run 
poet. 
(The others are shocked at the depth of his 
hurt, and choose to keep quiet as he continues 
to utter these words:) 
How 
Do I sum you up 
Poet 
Do I 
Call you names 
Couched in flowery language 
Extolling the virtues 
Of your poetry 
You 
Frowned upon 
Such unpropitious utterings alive 
And surely won't 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
GLENDORA ..vi.» Vol. 2/No. 3 
Accept them 
In your now 
Ancestral abode 
Should I 
Even 
Try to employ 
The use of words 
Inarticulate words 
For 
I do not possess 
Your eloquence • 
To 
Sketch images 
Of Your life 
How 
Do I 
Begin 
To paint 
This canvass 
In colours 
Connoting 
Your life 
Your extraordinary life 
How 
Do I 
Capture 
The cadence 
Of 
Your thunderous voice 
At 
Regina Mundi 
Or 
At 
Avalon cemetery 
When 
The bones 
Of a revolutionary 
Were interred 
For eternal rest 
I 
Can only say 
What I know 
I 
Can only recount 
What my memory recalls 
Moments 
Events 
Of 
Momentous significance
With you 
a central figure 
I remember 
That Saturday 
At Funda Centre 
That Saturday in Soweto 
At the height 
Of PW Botha's emergency 
The occasion: 
Readings from 
Zimbabwean literature 
You 
On the chair 
Yes 
I remember the day so well 
We 
All of us came 
Writers 
And 
Non-writers 
Poets 
And Non-Poets 
Or 
Hope-to-be-poets-one-day- 
When-the-inspiration-comes 
Yes 
We 
All of us came 
And 
Found 
A party bf 
Literature enthusiasts 
From 
Botha's security police 
Armed 
Not with aesthetic sensibilities 
Like the rest of us 
But 
Armed to the teeth 
With 
Machine guns 
And armored vehicles 
On 
Your inquiry 
At the reason 
For the heavy artillery 
Came the answer: 
We 
Have not come 
Like everybody else 
To attend the reading 
We were all 
Stunned 
By this incongruous spectacle 
And 
The equally incongruous answer 
I could not help 
But be reminded 
Of 
Goebbels 
And 
Culture 
At the mention of it 
He is said 
To have reached 
For his gun 
I 
Remember the look 
On your face 
when you addressed 
The packed theatre 
This was 
Just 
Another form of censorship 
The reading must go on 
We must not 
Be intimidated 
The reading must go on 
You 
Said this 
Taking your position 
At the helm of ceremonies 
And 
Gaveling the proceedings 
Into order 
Poet 
We 
Were all scared 
Though maintaining 
a steely exterior 
Like 
An experienced revolutionary 
You 
Were wise to 
The futility 
Of prolonging this reading 
For more than necessary 
Under such provocative conditions 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. 2/No. 3 GLENDORA.v^
But 
You were equally wise 
To the historical significance 
Offered 
By this confrontation 
Of 
Poetry 
and 
The guns of apartheid 
So 
The reading went on 
The words 
Of 
Our Zimbabwean comrades 
Filled the theatre 
Though only 
For 
A symbolic while 
Before you call it 
To strategic end 
You 
Had made 
The critical point 
You 
Had consolidated 
This moment 
This 
Event 
For posterity 
Remember 
Poet 
The spirit 
You instilled in the people 
When you read 
Africa my beginning 
I don't remember 
Any poem 
In the history 
Our literature 
That so stirred the people 
As this one 
In that sonorous voice 
You bellowed: 
Freedom 
Is the law of nature 
Justice 
Is deeply rooted 
In the universal order oHhings 
I am 
GLENDORA 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. 2/No. 3 
Because 
You are 
Because you are 
I am 
This 
Was how 
You whipped 
Your audience 
Into a poetic frenzy 
The relationship 
Between 
People and their poets 
Is much distorted these days 
But 
I suppose 
The poetry 
Written by true poets 
Will live 
After them 
I remember 
Your deep concern 
Poet 
About our skewed remembrances 
Of 
Our heroes of struggle 
Where 
In the scheme of things 
Are the names of 
Mofutscmyane 
Morolong 
Biko 
And others 
That you named 
In rapid succession 
You asked 
We 
Forget the names 
Of 
Our heroes 
At our peril 
You opined 
You 
Are now gone 
To be 
In the illustrious company 
Of 
Plaatje 
Mofolo
Monyaise 
I 
Can see 
The smile 
On your face 
When you ponder 
The irony that 
We envy you 
The company 
But 
Not the journey 
I 
Have no doubt 
Poet 
That 
You will 
Acquit yourself well 
In that community of giants 
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