African Child

I have had a poem forming in my head for a while, and the other day my parents and I came up with the perfect title ... African Child.
The reason it is so pertinent is because that is exactly who I am, as I write this I have my bushbaby jumping around my room, whilst the impala graze lazily, lethargically on the manicured green lawn. I am indeed an African child, the magic of Africa lies deep within me, buried within my innermost being, I love the contrasts of Africa, the way the sky is such a magnificent, vibrant blue, whilst the grass lies destitute and dying below. She is a special place, and has captured my heart.

Oi ! There's a pookie in my bookshelf !! 

Victoria Falls

Here where the smoke thunders

My heart lies here

Buried in this soil

Among the dormant nutrients

Held in its grasp.

Among the minute communities

Of the insects that lie within it

My heart beats

With the throng of the matabele ant

Throbs with the colonies of termites

And unites with the slow steady rhythm

Of the heartbeat of Zimbabwe

My heart lies here

Here where the fish eagles haunting cries

Pierce the landscape

Here where the water is broken

By the giant kingfishers’ calculated dives

Here where the air is pure

Where the birds are the surveyors of the land

Here where the skies lie open

In a brilliant display

Of vibrant blue.

My heart lies here

Encircled by the power

Of the Zambezi

Here under a curtain of constantly falling water.

Here where the beauty is uncontaminated,

Here where nature is in her purest form,

Here where heaven and earth meet.

Here where your senses are heightened

By raw and untouched beauty. 

My heart lies here

Here where the smoke thunders

Hilton College Rugby vs Michaelhouse 2012

There is indeed a spirit that lives within a Hilton College boy that cannot be put into words. the passion and enthusiasm with which they attack every situation, whether it be on the rugby field, or tennis court, or whatever they happen to be doing. Is one that oozes with pride for their school. Hilton College is not merely a school, it is a family.

The SPELL.
One of the greatest attractions of the Hilton Michaelhouse rivalry. Not only is it present on the sports field, but in the respective teams support for their schools. In which their passion is displayed without reserve, they are proud. They are Hilton boys and nothing else in that moment matters.

They say to never look a lion in the eye. Because encased in the amber stare of this great beast, are the souls of all the prey that it has feasted on. Locked behind its piercing stare they sit begging to be let out and to no avail. They say never to look a lion in the eye, because before you realize what you are looking into, it is too late, and you too are imprisoned behind the cool, amber stare of the King of Beasts. 

There is an extraordinary bond that is developed between a mother and her child, and in Africa that bond is even more profound as for the first few years of most children's lives they spend either tied to their mothers back as is done in Zimbabwe, perched on their mothers shoulders as in Egypt, or slung on their mother's hips as seen here in Mozambique. 

The Bend over Bazaar - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Like most things in Zimbabwe nothing is used for its original purpose. The highly renowned Bend Over Bazaar is Bulawayo's flea market, and if you subject yourself to scratching through huge piles of second hand clothes, and can put up with the ever constant shouts that are aimed at selling ones product, you can come across many a bargain for a very good price. The clothes that are on sale are from overseas companies that supply poor or developing countries with aid, but like the typical businessmen that Zimbabweans are, the clothes are not used to clothe their families, instead to make a few easy dollars.