I have heard rumours about me
some say my body is exactly
the thing you need
when you want to forget your mother
Others say my body is a burial ground
that is why no one wanders here during
the day and those who do
do not know what they are looking for exactly
Most linger around because of rumours
Heard I am hard to open up
I must hide something precious
Like gold or gems
Some think my body is a mine
I must be filled with riches
hold me like a jewel
glare at me like a prize
Dig around me to get a sense
of what they think I’m hiding
are dumbfounded by the empty in me
some keep digging anyway
Find water
and stay for a while
heard traps only protect treasures
there must be something here
Think my body is a tomb for kings
study me, hide behind research, theology and God
break in and wonder why they and all their children
are cursed.
Veripuami Nandee Kangumine is a Namibian poet and writer. Her poems explore nostalgia and the multiple identities in which it manifests itself. In 2021 she was named by Isele Magazine as one of the young African Poets to watch. Her work also appears in My Heart In Your Hands: Poems From Namibia (UNAM Press, 2020) and Doek! Literary Magazine. She is a fellow of the Narrating Namibia, Narrating Africa Doek Emerging Writers Program.