Petrichor  

Gilead slips in and out 
of anger and sleep, anger and sleep
Rain clouds gather
as we wail and weep, wail and weep
over a nation 

somewhere
over the rainbow
a nation is click-click clicking
songs 
of hope deferred
of loss of hope 
of pride
of place
of station
of face
click-click clicking

because
Qongqothwane
is hard for some to say
because sometimes 
it’s hardest to say the words
you really mean
to say what you really want
what you really feel
so we click tongues
and pens 
and keyboards
and heels 

because 
there’s no place like home
there’s no place like home 
there’s no place 
like where the heartache is

because we have had enough
of drought and desperation
and dirges and cold blood
and the smell of fear
and smoke and fire

because
we want to hear 
the knock-knock knocking
of Qongqothwane,
because we want to click our fingers
as we sway our hips 
to wedding songs
and kick up our heels 
on dance-floors 
and on dirt roads 
and follow Qongqothwane
bold
up the hill
to survey
what is ours

because
we want to hear 
the knock-knock knocking
of Qongqothwane
as it strikes the earth with its belly,
knock-knock knocking
as it points the way home, 
knock-knock knocking
as it spells 
the promise
of the softening 
of parched clay
the promise 
of the fragrance
of
heaven 
touching 
earth

Shannon Kenny is South African of African, Asian and European heritage. Her experience of prejudice and privilege in various forms encourages her to explore the uncomfortable truths that challenge our assumptions and expectations; the crossroads where professed belief and lived reality are forced into confrontation. She lives in Durban.

Footnote:
Petrichor (/ˈpɛtrɪkɔːr/) is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed from Greek petra (πέτρα), meaning "stone", and īchōr (ἰχώρ), the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.
Qongqothwane: A traditional Xhosa song, also known as the Click Song (so called by the colonialists who had difficulty pronouncing Qongqothwane); popularised internationally by Miriam Makeba. Qongqothwane literally means ‘knock-knock beetle,’ a variety of darkling beetle that taps its abdomen on the ground and is also able to revolve the top of its body ‘to point the way home’ in children’s games. It heralds the coming rain, is symbolic of good fortune, and of pointing the way to a better future in times of trouble.
(The writer spent their formative years in the Eastern Cape province where this song originates)