Siphiwe Ka Ngwenya

begging


begging has become a profession
unemployment our occupation
every soul wandering on city pavements
turning poverty into fiction
i always read words of pain
like graffiti scribbled on these sombre faces
& hidden smiles
sore lips & quivering bruised hands
who have learned the art
of lying without hurting
from those who speak diverse tongues
of the streets
of blistered hope & lynched dreams
i see them everywhere
for i am just a poet
trudging their gravel road


From:A Virtual Anthology
of Recent South African Poetry