WEEKEND POETRY :THEY TELL ME AND I ASK THEM: Follow our WhatsApp Channel for more updates https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vai0FQJ11ulJHRRO3r0l *Manhize Chikapakapa* *by* *Professor Nonsense* So they tell me - "That hill over there is called Chinyanya" So I ask them - "What does it mean?" So they answer - "We don't know" So they tell me - "In Chinyanya there's a sacred cavern" So I respond - "Really!!! Can you go and show me?" So they interject - "We don't really know the exact spot but it's there" So they continue - "There once resided a mermaid at Chinyanya" So I enquire - "Where is that spot at Chinyanya - there's no river or pool there?" So they tell me - "It used to stay at a spring before the white settlers mounted a bushpunp and it departed" They also tell me - "That large hill over there is called Bamaskop" I also ask - "What does that mean?" They also reply me - "We don't actually know but it may mean big head or mind of Bama" They also tell me - "There's a rich gold deposit in Bamaskop" I also respond - "If gold is really there, why aren't they mining it?" They also inform me - "Many explorers attempted but every time they reach the spot they saw an enormous python lying there" Again they tell me - "That stretch of mountains over there is called Manhize" Again I ask - "What does that mean?" Again they reply me - "We don't know but it's a range of mountains stretching from Mwenezi to Alaska" Again they inform me - "Manhize is rich in diverse minerals; geographically it's called the Great Dyke" Again I recall - "This is the range I learnt that all minerals are found in abundance; gold, chrome, iron, nickel and diamond" And they tell me - "There's an ancient gold treasury in Manhize" And I enquire - "Where is that treasury of gold?" And they reply me - "We don't really know the exact spot but it exist" And they inform me - Many people have tried to collect it but all perished" And I respond - "How and why did they perish?" And they also inform me - "Every time any person ventured to come within its range, he would drop and die on the spot" And they continue - "A certain young white man connived with some locals to take the treasure and when they arrived near the spot. He was directed through signals to the exact spot and he unearthed the loot but when he left he also took a thighbone and the skull of the skeleton which laid on top of the chest And since then, he became insane; the skull he set at the gate post of his father's homestead. As for the thighbone, he used it as a charmer's stick which he never left wherever he went till he died. Then they tell me - "That gap between those mountains is called Chikapa-kapa" Then me full of laughter I interject - "Be serious guys - apa mave kuzoti nyadzisirira manje" Then they ask me perplexed - "What vulgar have we uttered?" Then I question them - "What does Chikapa-kapa mean?" Then they answer me - "It comes from sounds of the Waterfalls " Then I respond - "Okay, now I see it, Manhize Chikapa-kapa is a swampy spot" Then they inform me - "Chikapa-kapa is an extremely sacred place" Then they further inform me - "The mermaid which left Chinyanya now resides at Chikapa-kapa" Now they claim - "Manhize is the Biblical of the land of milk and honey". Because they are are Apostolic shrines and stone called Dombo reMbiya. Now they associate Manhize with Christianity but it is Sacred Mountain of our Ancestors. It is Sacred Mountain of Moyo Shayamombe clan, it is sacred Mountain of Shava Musimuvi clan. Now I ask them - "Where is Manhize ?" Now they answer me - "All the area surrounded by Chinyanya, Bamaskop and Chikapa-kapa is called Manhize" . Now they inform me - "When it's about to rain in Manhize , Chikapa-kapa announces it; Through emitting a mighty loud and continuous roar for hours, similar to a jet plane sound; Each and every morning of any day it rains, the hills and mountains of Manhize would be covered by mist" Yes!!! I speak - "Manhize is a real Wonderland" Yes!!! I speak "I have witnessed all that you have mentioned about Manhize , even beyond your utterances" Yes!!! I speak - "It's nolonger raining in Manhize as it used to be" Yes!!! I speak - "Manhize is nolonger the magnificent Greenland - it's annually scorched by maniac wildfires" Yes!!! I speak - "The land is nolonger the Paradise of wildlife" "Where is the voice of the Mockingbird? - shouting perpetually 'kaurura-kaurura-kaurura, kaura-kaura-kaura, kura-kura-kura!!!' - After touring the germinating maize fields" Yes!!! They tell me - "It was silenced by Tamaron and Karate" So I ask - "Where is the notorious voice of Chingekeke which used to echo in the night all-year round?" "How I long to hear that voice during the midnight of a full moon - 'Haa-ah!! - Haa-ah!! - Haa-ah!! - Haa-ah!! - Haa-ah!! - Haa-ah!! - Woo-oh!!'" So they tell me - "It was chased away by the competing dogs of the hunters" So I ask them - "Where is the boisterous and stubborn voice which used to boom through Manhize ? - Huu-uh!! Huu-uh!! Huu-uh!! Huu-mboo-hoo!' So they tell me - "The angry farmers harshed it" So I ask them - "Where is mhofu, nhoro, ngwarati, gora and other wild animals? They used to roam and fill Manhize with the cacophony of rhythmical sounds" So they tell me - "The hungry farmers ferociously devoured them entirely" So I tell them - "Manhize is now desolate" I also tell them - "Manhize is becoming a desert now" Again I tell them - "The entire landscape of Manhize is now a graveyard" And I tell them - "Every time I see and think about Manhize I bitterly lament" Then I tell them - "You have destroyed and defiled all the natural fabrics of Manhize " Now I proclaim - "Manhize will never be the Land of milk and honey until we fully repent" Yes!! I proclaim - "Manhize will never witness its traditional seasons; How can you profess to love Manhize while you permit that mass carnage to continue, Yes!!! - You have littered the entire land with your filthy, Yes!!! - You have left your filthy including your faeces to be drained and flow to Chikapa-kapa, Yes!!! I tell them - "You don't respect and value your heritage, Now I tell them - "This is my permanent and perpetual residence - Manhize" *NB:MANHIZE MOUNTAIN BORDERS CHIKOMBA AND MHONDORO DISTRICTS* Follow us on:- *FACEBOOK* *@Zimbabwe Intangible Cultural Heritage* https://www.facebook.com/share/17zXZ2WNmG/?mibextid=wwXIfr *INSTAGRAM* @ *ZICH TV MEDIA* https://www.instagram.com/zichtvmedia/profilecard/?igsh=d3N3ZmlkbTZ4a3E= *TIKTOK* *@ zichtvmedia* https://www.tiktok.com/@zichtvmedia?_t=ZG-8srTiO9lFYH&_r=1 *YOUTUBE* *@ ZICH TV* https://youtube.com/@zichtvmedia?feature=shared 🔄🔄🔄Share our Articles and documentaries with Family and friends