“On the 8th of October 2024, a catastrophic fire swept through Mbare Musika, one of Harare’s largest and most iconic markets. Tens of thousands of dollars was lost, and livelihoods were shattered.”
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you watched it all burn, how quickly buildings thinned to memories, sliced between what once was and what is, how quickly, common roads turned to pathways for escape, like railways for slaves, like the red sea, you watched it all burn, how quickly your legs knew the right way home, in the labyrinth of fear, of panic, of confusion, how quickly death became a possibility, manifesting in the clouds of smoke and dust, a magician, making his grand appearance, you watched it all burn, how a spark grew, morphing into collapsing buildings, crumbling walls and falling trees, trunks that split the earth in half when they fell, cars that exploded, the scent of petroleum and lives lost, and you watched it all burn, how a spark broke all hell loose, devils dancing between the anguish, demons at the height of ecstasy, of horns and red eyes, bodies engulfed in fire, as if black skin was flammable substance, as if human bones were paper, begging to scintillate, into nothingness, and you watched it all burn, how the fire devoured everything that existed, anything that spoke of life, a cancer, like your family, when they threw you out, at fifteen, for refusing, to be abused, you watched the fire pass you by, like civilians in the streets of Harare, disgusted by you, better than you, kings and queens to your peasantry, to your circumstance, and where was god then? when you prayed, and cried, and slept on an empty stomach, in the merciless cold, organs rumbling, begging, begging, to be turned into, nothingness,and you watched it all burn, this place that has become your home, where you found refuge, how quickly the smoke rose to greet the gods, how quickly clouds were engulfed by black smoke; a canvas of blackness, how quickly something so colorful can become so dull, how quickly day turned to night, how quickly lives can be inverted, how quickly the universe can lean towards destruction, how quickly the laws of physics can go against you; a war that transcends your understanding, and you watched it all burn, this marketplace, that gave you life, in an economy that has done nothing but kill you, kill you, this marketplace, that has fed you for years, years that has fed your brothers and sisters, and your brothers’ brothers, and your sisters’ sisters, this marketplace, a second heartbeat, a second redemption at life, now gone, like a thief in the night, like cancer, in the absence of something to ruin, and now everything is in ruins, like love, like family when you begged them to keep you, like, like, and you watched it all burn… this marketplace, that housed hundreds of street children, children just like you, children without homes, without peace, who sought haven, between its cracks, and crevices, between cardboard boxes and plastic houses, in the rattle of coins and metal cups, in hands that morphed into cups, begging, begging, to civilians, like kings, like queens, like gods, praying, praying, for one more meal, behind cracked teeth and broken smiles, children, children, like you, like you, who often feel like fires, devouring anything that exists.
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Main Image: ChatGPT