Retired Nun

she squashes the cigarette-butt in the trash
and admires her overpolished finger-nails that are neat and fragile like glass

she flits through the Holy Book with shaky fingertips
and squints pencil-lined eyebrows
at the masculine shadow lurking in the corridor

she seals her strawberry-coloured lips
and dreams many dreams
of roving hands under the crucifix in her clothes

she buries herself in a cloud of coquettish laughter
and slides the Big Book toward the edge
then reaches for a silver-tinted glassful of red-wine

she wears a wide black smile
on her powdered face
which hides many, many, many forbidden pleasures

she is the retired nun next door

just last week, they picked her in a sewage pond
crumpled to death
her body missing parts.

ENDS

Masimba Kumasi Biriwasha_C
Harare, Zimbabwe, AFRICA
Ghetto Productions (c) 2001