Roots

by Martin Chrispine Juwa

“What is strength?” I asked my granny.
It is family. It is the blood that runs in our generations. It is a tree, 
From Mzimba to Phalombe district.
Family is a root that stretches long through generations
Curved by varying face shapes and heights, sometimes manners,
But boiling toward sameness all the way. 
My fathers’ backs bent over their shoots from the lake,
Farming their way from Zomba to Phalombe,
Pounding skin of Dimbalands, peeling skin of maize seeds
And running their energy on the groundnut stores too.
Grandfather Peter toiled tooth and nail to shape us,
His sweat trekked down the slope of his spine with the slowness
Of a snail’s pace. He is the real definition of his ancestors before him.
He is the real definition of our time today. 

My mothers’ lineage is spongy but weighty, crystal and beautifully 
Sculptured; extending over generations to my mother Catherine.
My mothers have also boxed against the skin of farms in Mulanje,
Broadcasting seeds that sprouted forth into my generation. 
On their heads they balanced bundles of wood as they waddled like ducks 
Down Thekerani hills to our village. They had our siblings on their backs, too.
The sun baked their foreheads and sweat skated down their backs like an army of ants.  

Now I dust off that past, leaving behind the scent of a new culture
Of Hip Hop and social media—not the farm and lake.
Family trees do not grow tired of giving shade to those whose foreheads 
Are burning in the scorching sun. Family trees are rains that give water to those 
Thirsting for it. Family trees are a titling, warm blanket in June.
I will not forget my bloodline, my roots, just as my father taught me.
I will remember my veins even as days turn over their green leaves, 
Rolling over to another face of season, like wildflowers do,
Or chalk dust hugging its last breaths in the wind.

Martin Chrispine Juwa is a History teacher, social activist and writer who enjoys reading and writing poetry. He recently self-published his debut poetry collection titled Drifting Smoke: An Anthology of Poetry. His poems are published in various anthologies, magazines, journals and newspapers, including Project Muse, JAYL (Issue 2), BNAP 2018 & 2019 Anthologies, LOCKDOWN 2020, On the Road Anthology (Vol. 1), Childhood Anthology, Pensive Journal of Spirituality, Afreecan Read, The Poet Magazine, and many others. Two of his poems are translated into Spanish language and appear in the Libero America Journal (2020).