Zimbabwe 2018 Christmas Story

Dear Family and Friends,

Christmas in Zimbabwe is a simple affair
As we come to the end of another year.

For hour after hour we sit in the fuel queues
Trying really hard not to get the blues.

We don’t need to worry about Coke, Fanta or Beer
Only one per customer so we’ll stock pile it all to drink next year.

We don’t need to string up our Christmas lights
The power cuts and surges make their own flickering delights.

The boxes of biscuits we always give to our friends
Now cost much more money than we have to spend.

Our families from the Diaspora are coming home for the hols
Their cases full of medicines instead of treats, toys and dolls.

The government’s insistence that Bond and US dollars are the same
Has become the cause of much scorn and shame.

The shops multiply everything by four
Bringing poverty and hardship to every door.

In 2018 the rich have got richer
And the poor have got poorer.

But not to worry because Zimbabwe is Open For Business
And the New Dispensation’s eyes are closed to our distress.

So this Christmas we turn to the delights of our beloved land
Mushrooms and mealies and the ever friendly clapped hand.

My letter this Christmas is in memory of the unarmed men and women shot in cold blood on the 1st of August 2018 by soldiers in army uniform in Harare; the pictures are burned into our hearts; we will remember you.

I close my eighteenth year of these Letters from Zimbabwe with a message of thanks to all our families, friends and supporters all over the world. Thank you for not giving up on us, for still following our story, for your messages of empathy, concern and compassion and for helping whenever you can. To all Zimbabweans, I hope you can spend time with your family and friends, get a meal on your table and that a gentle, soaking rain falls on the earth near you this Christmas. Until next time, thank you for reading these letters and supporting my books about life in Zimbabwe, love cathy.

13 December 2018

Copyright © Cathy Buckle. www.lulu.com/spotlight/CathyBuckle2018