VONANI BILA

I once entered a morgue to steal a fresh corpse,
to sell body parts to some witch doctors,
djy ken is wat, a toe and a little finger is good fortune,
a big toe – the hallux, haa, you smile all the way to the bank,
cash good enough to buy a Toyota Quantum. 

It was dark and cold in the morgue,
I flicked the light switch,
a smiling woman emerged 
undressed 
she was peaceful,	 so calm, in a cold tray.

Yerr, I changed my mind,
my pants were pumped up,
prrr, prrrr, prrrr like a balloon,
all I needed was to masturbate,
go skomora bafowethu, ndzi rila![to masturbate and cry!]
Shoo, the woman was smashing in her silent posture – 
in her sentient yet stiff being,
“your hair is beautiful madam,
I am not going away without your warm hugs and sweet kisses…”

Dogs like me admire the full package,
the smell of decaying caked blood,
hmmmm, nice-nice!
I even whistled thinly.
Lusting for a well-laid embalmed woman in the pan. 

I stretched my hand, moved it along her powdery body,
she was naked and free,
no panty, no bra … 
nothing bafowethu[brothers]
she was clean and sweet,
no overgrown nails, no long public hair, no hair in the armpits,
legs apart,
all roads led to Jerusalem,
the Zion Hill.
		

I remember her name, yes …
It was written on a plastic bangle,
fixed on her wrist:
Masonto, Ma-so-nto, ntofontofo![soft and smooth]

Inja yam', she couldn't resist,[my dog]
no toyi toyi in the morgue,
no umzabalazo in the land of stiffs,
when I started caressing her hard breasts,
she giggled and blushed,
couldn’t even say ‘stop it!’

Breasts started to rise like self-raising dough majita, [guys]
I took off my pants, scattered them on the floor,
hmmmm, I salivated and sniffed her body 
like a dog in heat,
feeling her locked fingers,
frozen toes,
oblong body,
and hmmm, her bum
voluptuous as ever!

Shush, shush!
the howling wind nearly disturbed me,
but I mounted her,
sniffed and licked her from toe to forehead,
I tried to lift and move her tactile body,
but hey, she was heavy like an igneous rock.

Masonto, Ma-so-nto!
I first met her at a bar in Hillbrow,
the yellow-bone was dressed in skimpy wear,
her subtle perfume, red lips and eye lashes kept me humming:
Masonto, Ma-so-nto!

She loved ciders and red wine,
I enjoyed my whisky without ice or Coke,  
she danced to Arthur Mafokate’s kwaito beats,
clinching her butt cheeks together,
tsipa tsipa, tsipa tsipa!

I didn’t really propose her, 
guluva has no time for chit-chat,
I bought her liquor and delicious hot wings, 
midnight, we drove to her flat in Berea,
skipping red shouting robots,
we listened to Rex Rabanye’s Onketsang’s groove,

I wasn’t scared of the lingering shadows, sprawled street urchins 
and the mad people in ragged wear who live in streets of trash and rubble,
I like driving like a maniac at night, 
changing lanes like a wailing ambulance, 
music blaring as I smoke the joint, smoke filling the car 
through high-rise buildings and hotels, warehouses, shops and abandoned buildings
music out loud!

My fingers caressed her breasts as if playing a piano in a concert,
in turn she breastfed me,
then they snaked through into her bushes of hidden treasures,  
we stopped on the side of the road for a quickie, 
her thighs were hotter than the hot wings,
smooth and tastier than whisky.

Police sirens wailed,
blue lights flickered,
sped past the red robots and intersections,
we couldn’t care less, 
lovers in a dreamland just don’t care,
the police were probably chasing after car jackers and robbers
not us!

That night I didn’t sleep bafowethu,
aided by Viagra and mpesu, 
I screwed her like a tiger:
in the loo, kitchen, on the couch –
the whole week,
she was like a nymph, 
I sang her praises:
“slender never gets tired!”

When I returned to Venda to hide away from the men and women in blue,
I gave her lots of cash from my heist loot,
her pliable fist-like sweet tits deserved every Rand,
I said to her swiftly, “go and spoil yourself baby!”

Her husband knew me so well, 
he’d crossed me in the gang –
paying me crumbs for a job I risked my life… 
sleeping with my girlfriend before my eyes 
when I demanded more cash …
I had to teach Sgantsotso a lesson, 
he forgot he had a sexy wife,
I wanted to teach him, he’s not man enough,
and that Gologolo is the boss,
instead I fell in love with Masonto, Ma-so-nto! 

Her still body reminded me of our dramatic first night in Berea,
I really wanted to rock her for the last time in the morgue,
before she was taken home or church for display,
before she was taken home to her husband 
to sleep in the house for the last time – 
before her remains were buried in a grave
before a weeping hubby in a black linen suit and pressed white shirt.