He swore on his mother’s grave
That if I left my husband for him,
He would never let me walk on my feet.
He would carry me on his back
Like mothers carry their babies.
Does everyone believe everything they’re told
When they are in love — I did!
We had not gone far in our elopement
When he swore again on his mother’s grave
That he would not take me with him
If I came along with my little boy.
I could not go back to my husband.
I tearfully abandoned my little love!
I had a mother’s heart inside me,
Though it may have been a foolish lover’s heart.
I was sad as I followed him on my feet,
Though he’d promised to carry me on his back.
I could not find laughter in his jokes any more.
I could not give him happiness because I had none,
And he swore by his mother’s grave as before
That he would not have an unhappy woman for a wife.
He crossed the river to his home village,
And left me on the other side
Without my boy – without my husband!
Paul Chidyausiku (Chinamora, Zimbabwe, 1927). Periodista, novelista y poeta.