Tag: The Goatherd
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18 October: The Goatherd #13
The Spirit of Goats Sure as rocks roll down hills,the woman felt it split her skull. Feltthe explosive roar.Felt starlightdescend all round her. Heard a herald ring in her ears. This stormof no small power,renegade skies daredmock the Mara. A floodthat hurled trees, breakinginto one another,a cataclysmicconscious crush. Black crows chose for the sky,panicked, go…
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11 October: The Goatherd #12
Defy the Sky Thunder shakes the starsas if running naked, and the man and his womansip thin soup, and listento thunder’s unspeakable wisdom. Their child, Binti Mbuzi,is a tall slim girl with a timeless heart,fresh as the sky shines blue. But this night is a blinding darkness,born to defy the sky, and the goats sleep,only…
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4 October: The Goatherd #11
Bounce And there’s a girlwho laughs at crows,the ones that bounce acrossthe grassy dry, and shebounces against her mother’s hip,this girl, Binti Mbuzi, is inked by soil’s spit and mud,steeped in its quietude.Hers is a childhood of perfect hours, and today, she feels its flaming morning, fit toflit from flower to flower,like the sun winging…
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27 September: The Goatherd #10
The Girl of Goats The man arrivedon the back of dawn dew air.If only, if only to turn back time.If only to be there. For her. Moonlight had a creased disregardthat night – it was blackas a crushed star. The moon pulled at him,and he knew its crush. She told him of cursing the wind…
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20 September: The Goatherd #9
And It Comes the day opened like a flower,the air warpedand hotand unfinished. the woman remembered itas two hemispheres –the beating heart of day,and a wild fermenting moon. and she went blinded into its creation,a brailled path,feeling her way,close as foggy sleep. and when that rooted knobreleased her spine,she cupped a child in her hands,…
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11 September: The Goatherd #8
The Stirring of Clouds She says the stars are raining,and clouds are stirring in her belly. to sleep.to wake. to dream.to hope not to live for oneself, says the man. She tells him she doesn’t sleep when she dreams,that she only sees trees that never leaf,and sparks that burn the wind. The air snaps with…
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4 September: The Goatherd #7
In Couplets It was more like a chairthan a stone that yields itself, and he sits, fatigue pursuing himinto the shade of argan trees, while his goats sleep close as leaves that cling to a branch. And he watches the womanstrike her stick on the ground, goats turning left, turning right,and then the man realises…
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28 August: The Goatherd #6
And After A Time She settlesin a small thatched hutwith a platformto sleep … no need for more.Her days are an evened echo of walking. Goats. To water.To food. Some days come disguised,as a volcano, or a caged hawk,or a jungle,or purified water … or freedom. One day she’ll…
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25 August: The Goatherd 5
5. When He Sees Her Her donkey shifts its weight, and stares.A man. Lean and tall. Long limbs. A facewith lines as deep as a flash flood’s gulley.The man studies the woman milking his goat. She’s lean and tall. Long limbs. A face thathe can’t read. She rises from her haunches,and licks the last trace…
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22 August: The Goatherd 4
4. When She Sees the Goats She sees the goatsbefore she sees the man. A white goat leaping about like a small moth. A black one studying branches of an Argan tree. She leans down and draws milkfrom its tit into her cupped hand. It trickles between her fingers,warm and rich,the colour of pale butter.…
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