William Khalipwina Mpina is a Malawian poet, fiction writer, economist and teacher. Many of his works appear in literature magazines such as Expound and Nthanda review, and in nine anthologies. His books include Shadows of Death and other poems (2016), Namayeni (2009) and Njiru (2003).

 

Wild Thoughts

 

I always have wild thoughts

When I think about my past

Sparkling with crimson hell

Dying without soft hearts

Crying hello into my ears

My past, don’t tell me about it

I always hear echoes of asphyxiation

Pepper and sword blended together

Razor and knives rousing my eyes

Against me faces turned

My vision, bleak and blurred

Warming my end

I always sniff at my past with fury

A footstool of my fate

A cleft of hopelessness

Singing, freezing and pushing

Looking a far, not at the approaching fog

My past, a sweet harsh voyage

 

~

 

Malawi

 

Icy flames

Always cycling in a circle

And circling in a cycle

…in silence

Nobody knows

How long…

Only the gods