People (Not the Libianca song)

 By the time you read this I won’t be there but to set the scene let me start like this:

It’s a hot Saturday afternoon in the Bulawayo CBD and I’m sitting by the art gallery waiting for my friend who said she’ll be in town in the next 10 minutes but is clearly not going to be and I’m people watching. Yes, I am watching people do their thing in the CBD. When I say do their thing I mean walk past me as they go about their business.

I like to imagine how their day is going and what their business in town is today. Like take for instance the two ladies that were looking all dressed up must be going for a lunch date. And how the guy who just sat down next to me with a traveling bag is coming from Gwanda and is waiting for his friend to come pick him up so they can get on with their weekend. My favorite so far has been the couple that’s clearly on a date. What I liked the most about them is that when they walked past me the first thing that came into my mind is that Suited for each other song. They looked so adorable together. 

I have always enjoyed people watching because let’s face it, people are interesting. The fact that someone could be smiling and laughing while going through a whole mental breakdown inside is just insane. How did we learn to co-exist with pain and not have it show on our faces? How did we learn to be excited and doing backflips in our heads because of the good news we just received but act so calm and collected like we didn’t just get life altering news? How did we learn not to wear our hearts on sleeves?

I think the real superheroes are the people that wear their hearts on sleeves. The people that feel what they feel and are not afraid to just say it as it is. The people that don’t worry about how said feelings are going to be received by the next person but will say what they feel because they know it’s important for their feelings need to be known and the only way they will be known is if they express them. 

If I could get any superpower I wanted I’d want to be able to read minds. I’d like it if I could see a stranger and know what they are thinking. I would then proceed to answer their thoughts and shock them with my super mind reading power! The look on their face would be priceless because they’ll start wondering whether they said their thought out loud when it is in fact my superpower. I think it would be quite cool.

I think we should all be able to read minds. Sometimes words feel like they aren’t enough to translate exactly what the heart is feeling. There are times where I find the English vocabulary lacking and even when I check my Shona vocabulary bank it just doesn’t seem to quite express exactly what I need to say. Sometimes I feel like no words can properly articulate what is in my heart. Sometimes my feelings are too big for words. I think this is why I cry. I can only hope if the next person can’t hear my cry at least my heart will feel a release and it will be enough for me to move forward.

(Ps: This was written December of 2023, I just didn’t feel like it was ready until today)