Just A Passerby by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali

I saw them clobber him with kieries,

I heard him scream with pain

like a victim of slaughter

I smelt fresh blood gush

5 from his nostrils,

and flow on the street.

I walked into the church

and knelt in the pew

“Lord! I love you.

10 I also love my neighbour. Amen”

I came out

my heart as light as an angel’s kiss

on the cheek of a saintly soul.

Back home I strutted

15 past a crowd of onlookers.

Then she came in –

my woman neighbour:

“Have you heard? They’ve killed your brother.”

“O! No! I have heard nothing. I’ve been to church.”

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali was born on 17 January 1940 in Kwabhanya, he is a South African whose works have been commended within and outside Africa. He writes both in Zulu and English languages.