Mind the Wall

Gaborone Sun

knocks you out

and confuses your south bound

ostrich ride as the mosque looms

on the right and university on the left

reminding you of what could have been

The way to go

is not straight through the roundabout,

gently take a left curve

and clear the mind of worries

about tax evasion, deals gone awry,

dates gone south, politics gone haywire

pandemics on the prowl,

lockdowns by spouse and the state

Mind the wall of mindlessness

after the harsh lesson

of being robbed of your farm

by the one-armed bandit

of Gaborone Sun

You drive one hand on the steering wheel

another on the lap

of stolen future

mind addled

a huge hole

on the pay slip…

Next day jeering students

crack jokes about the wall

of hard knocks

Yet ten years down the line

of disappointment and

smothered aspirations,

their wheeled machines will kiss

the same wall of hard knocks.