Wednesday 28 October 2026Music, style, culture and power from Southern Africa
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Poetry

Nothing from you

Maverick Kabelo2 Oct 20261 min read
The back of a cream, slightly stained paper envelope on a black background
Valeria Reverdo (Unsplash)

Hi rra,
This is my last letter to you.
Your replies have a shelf in the glass cabinet,
beside the plates we keep for visitors.
I dust it every Sunday.

Every Friday I open Box 1043.
The water bill. Bank statements.
Nothing from you.

I still put out two cups in the morning.
Yours goes cold beside the kettle.
For thirty years your cough woke me before the rooster.
I used to pull the blanket over my ear.
Now the rooster wakes me alone.

So I bring this one myself,
with the flowers you called a waste of money,
to the grey stone in Ramotswa
and wipe the dust from your name.

Written byMaverick KabeloFounder, Digital Thread

Speaker, founder and civic organiser working across Botswana and South Africa on digital strategy, AI, data protection and youth leadership. Founder of Digital Thread and The Civic Chapter; founded Africa’s Very Own in 2018.

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