Trending

Meet Kenneth Tebogo Middleton: Botswana’s rising foodie and social media star Letsile Tebogo Q&A: childhood, school and salary Letsile Tebogo: The rising star of athletics in Botswana Austin Magaga: Starting Caves Academy on a high note Gofaone Modise: Redefining social media marketing How to register a company in Botswana The rise of Dr. Bryan Keitsemang Botswana set to host Miss World 2026 Ms. Pedzani Tafa appointed as Managing Director and Executive Director of BBS Bank Palesa Motsewetsho: daring to dream Precious Gondwe: multi-award-winning pan-African lawyer FME DJs & Han C – O Maaka (feat. DJ TH) lyrics Meet Kenneth Tebogo Middleton: Botswana’s rising foodie and social media star Letsile Tebogo Q&A: childhood, school and salary Letsile Tebogo: The rising star of athletics in Botswana Austin Magaga: Starting Caves Academy on a high note Gofaone Modise: Redefining social media marketing How to register a company in Botswana The rise of Dr. Bryan Keitsemang Botswana set to host Miss World 2026 Ms. Pedzani Tafa appointed as Managing Director and Executive Director of BBS Bank Palesa Motsewetsho: daring to dream Precious Gondwe: multi-award-winning pan-African lawyer FME DJs & Han C – O Maaka (feat. DJ TH) lyrics

Home/Poetry & Prose/Poetry

Poetry

The Mophane worm’s lament

Maverick Kabelo25 Dec 20221 min read

Two black-and-cream spiked mophane worms hang from a thin branch, with dry bushveld and fence posts blurred behind

I am but a humble worm,
Trapped in this endless form,
Foraging through the mophane leaves,
My days filled with endless feed.

But little did I know,
My fate would soon unfold,
I’d be plucked from my home,
Never again to roam.

Squeezed and pinched and whipped,
My innards ripped,
My body bent and broken,
My spirit forever awoken.

Preserved and canned and fried,
My life no longer denied,
But still I long for freedom,
To roam the land, to be them.

I am but a mophane worm,
Trapped in this endless form,
A victim of man’s desire,
Forever trapped in this endless fire.

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.

View profile →

← Previous storyBotswana government maintains Pula basket weights for 2023 Next story →Gofaone Modise: Redefining social media marketing

You might also like

Poem card quoting This is a jeremiad of my hopelessly drowning emotions, over a faint underwater figure

This is a jeremiad of my hopelessly drowning emotions

From waking up at 6am for a morning jogDown the busy street downtown with my dogThe everyday hangouts and dinners after workFrom scribbling random messages into my diary every morning when I wake…

Refilwe J. Mokgatlenyane8 Aug 20211 min read

A young man in a blue T-shirt crouches with his head bowed and one hand pressed to his head, in dim, shadowed light

Unfulfilled

Desire burns within me, A fire that never dies, I try to quench it, But it only multiplies.

Maverick Kabelo13 Dec 20221 min read

A smiling young woman, hands on hips, beside the title When Karma Gets Angry by Refilwe Mokgatlenyane on a yellow background

When Karma gets angry

Time passes by and happiness seeps awayMy mind remains a vacant playground, allowing pain to come playEmotions come and go, day by dayAll I realise is I’ve intimidated Karma, and its my time to pay

Refilwe J. Mokgatlenyane23 May 20201 min read