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William Khalipwina Mpina: When love is Smouldered

WHEN LOVE IS SMOULDERED

Rosy perfume belched from a train of love
The never-ending desire of my heart
Declare a word of prophecy to my soul
Marred, and mad with foreign creams
Weighed down by magnificent scent
From frantic flowers, always confined
To flicker at night; misplaced make-ups
Charring their variegated petals while flashing
Yellow, white and red beads locked in their waists
Sleepy eyes gaping at the noise of their footsteps
Pirouetting like hips of a traditional dancer
Whispers into my ears bitter sweat of harvesting honey
———————

BAREFOOT ON WICKED SAND

Joyful hearts yearning for rain
Murmur into my ears saliva of pain
Barefoot on wicked sand
While in my hand—
Strands of a suicide rope
Hidden in smithereens of hope
———————
Poetry: William Khalipwina Mpina
Image by SeaReeds from Pixabay

William Khalipwina Mpina
William Khalipwina Mpina
William Khalipwina Mpina is an officer, economist, and data analyst at the Malawi Revenue Authority. Beyond his professional career, Mpina is a talented literary figure, celebrated for his contributions to poetry and literature. He edited Rhythms of Thought Volume 1 (2026), an anthology of Malawian writing and art, and co-edited Walking the Battlefield (2020), a bilingual anthology of poems reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic. His books include Together as Two – a novel (2026), Speaking to Bilimankhwe – selected verse (2025), Stranger in Her Own Skin (2025), Kamwala Kodabwitsa (2024), created as part of the Invisible Child Project funded by Pen International, and Mooning the Morning (2022), a poetry collection published by Montfort Media. Mpina’s literary influence extends to his role as a Treasurer General for the Malawi Union of Academic and Nonfiction Authors and as an Executive Committee member of Pen Malawi, a local centre of Pen International.

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