Searching For Home Poem by Nokukhanya Madiba

Always searching for home
Searching in wrong places
Until i meet my people
Where borders cross
Where love abounds
Where hope is shared
I feel at home
Only but for a moment

Seasons change, colors change
Rainbows and chameleons
I have a job, you don't
Colors of hatred
Colors of xenophobia
Colors of division
Divided we fall
Left in the dust
With nowhere to hide
Hiding but everywhere

What a lonely walk
In a country full of people
Speaking but they
can't hear me
When they hear me
They amazed
Who are you?
Where from?
What anxiety
Why, I know it's coming

The face
The let down
The put down
The better than
Feel sorry for you face
While I put on a mask
Of not reacting
Of not caring
Feelings of 'I don't belong'

I ddn't choose this
I never wanted this
I longed for this
I love this
The opportunities
The skylights
The highways
The views,
the sea, the city
Don't feel like home

Ndebele is home
Bulawayo is home
Zimbabwe is home
Umbhida is home
My people are home
Love is home
Family is home
Connection is home
Always searching for home