REFLECTIVE: "TRANSLATIONS" BY MAURICE N CHIADZWA

Still feels like a minute ago when we first met

That afternoon, rocking gently in that flaring skirt…

When we first talked, a moment like gold, you warmed all the cold

Here I am again, busking in the glow of those days

When you strayed past my darkest days like a sunrise ray

When we first strolled into a sunset painted in gold…

Hanging around, it was just us, just you and me

You took me up then took me down, you happened to me

As we strolled, as we strode, a new page would unfold…

When I first met with your big sis, she said I was nothing

You laughed and said he’s full of ‘…sweet for nothings…’

The photo album she showed, the cake we had, the stories she told…

You were a beautiful chubby kid in colourful scrunches

I was a cry baby with some brown, jean dungarees

Both got shocked, felt exposed yet in laughter we rolled…

We were joking of the past, thinking a future was being written

As time went past, we both learnt we were mistaken

When our time clocked, our dream got in a boat and rolled…

Memories of ice-cream dates melted in the heat of roughest moments

Love faded in your eyes, that soul lost its finest elegance

The sunsets under which we walked, became dark and cold…

I kept on trying to reach out, because I had you in my heart

You kept on trying to run because to you I was written in the past…

Of course we still talked, before the memories became cold..

We were both scared, it would end, so you ran like it’d be forever

We were both scared, but I thought we’d be scared together.

As we strolled, then you strode away leaving me in the cold…

We’d freeze the moment to actually enjoy it

Now such a moment flow into my mind and I get paralysed by it

After we strolled, then you strode away leaving me in the cold…

Maybe my expression of love didn’t have a meaning in your language

And there was no translation that could make our hearts merge

Before we strolled, then you strode away leaving me in the cold…

Rays of the memories we made still glow though you’re gone

From the sunset walks and now, I walk home alone…

Where we once strolled, before you strode away and left me in the cold.

© MAURICE N CHIADZWA 

- Zimbabwe 

The poem reflects on self-discovery and the importance of building one’s identity based on personal values rather than external influence. It emphasizes that true growth comes from self-awareness, intentional choices, and leading by example instead of imitation. Ultimately, the poem encourages embracing one’s authentic self as the foundation for both personal fulfillment and positive impact on others.