“Politics also issues from the natural world, but like the stinking
Gongora orchid attracts flies. —Abby Lightsome

On Being Asked For a Ruling Party Membership Card

you asked me, party cadre,
for a membership card
of the ruining party.
what an insult
to the flowers and the birds
of my country
in my heart.

by Chenjerai Hove
from Rainbows in the Dust
Baobab Books, Harare, 1998