Read Poem: THE CROWN JEWEL, by Londeka Mdluli

Seasoned jilting from the pelvic bone
of a much younger woman,
wondering what truth loving naked might bring to the surface—
whether the human form is just a mirage
of silk roads and maps for those ports of mongrel stars
and never-ending sailors,
who fish to dig for gold in places
that become a condiment for all that lives and is alive.

Perhaps he lives to become one of them too,
for his eyes are a true tell of the boy king
that appears in all his poems,
haunted by silhouettes made of gunpowder.

But how can a man who was once brave enough to become a soldier
slip out of his own crown jewels?
How does he watch true diamonds
get cut to pieces by helicopters?
How does he die before he can truly live?

Wake up, dear king,
before the crown jewels have fallen,
before the blood diamonds are expertly cut and refined
back to the Congo,
where the women will again wear them—
this time as a reminder of everything you have lost.

Author: poetryfest

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