27

Numerically

27 is the number after 26 and before 28

26 is a gang name

28 is my little brother’s birth date

Day 27 of the 4^th month is our Freedom Day

My country is in the tip of Africa

It is a cup and the rest of Africa is the overflow

This is why it is that when I beat the drum at the tip of Africa

The child in central Africa dances but does not know why

The 27^th day of the fourth month

Is the day South Africa understood it was a rainbow

Day 27 is the day Africa believed in dreams again

27 is the telephone code of the republic

27 years of freedom fighting behind bars made Mandela famous

27 in Mathematics is a perfect cube

There are 27 books in the New Testament

Feng Shui tells me to keep 27 identical coins to raise money for my poetry venture

My poetry campaign began with the sky painted with rainbows all day

When I reach my goal

The child in central Africa will most likely drop his gun

And dance

A small victory for the pen at the tip of Africa may inspire an exchange of guns for pens

27 is an important number

Anything is possible

Ask Mandela

Ask the first voters in the rainbow nation

There are 27 days to victory

27 days before twenty thousand rands

27 by Siki Dlanga

www.thundafund.com/sikidlanga

'burning pen' illustration by siki dlanga