Kobayashi Maru

by Sozah Ruzario
(Harare, Zimbabwe)

I asked him what Kobayashi Maru meant.
He smiled, as if he held
some secret ingredient....
Was it a trick of the light?
The twinkle in his eye...
-
I looked at the woman next to him,
and made an involuntary sigh,
She wore dark cloths, Widow's Nets,
Like fingers running up her legs,
Black nail polish,
Powders, perfumes,
Glistening lips,
Hair like dark nights on full moons,
-
I pulled my gaze away....
Is that the right word to say?
"Pulled"?
Ripped more like,
Pried,
He noticed and laughed,
And I, ashamed, cast my eyes
upon the ground,
-
Kobayashi Maru,
You want to know what it is?
I'll tell you...
-
You are in a desert,
Stalked by death,
Life ebbs away from you
as a thirst,
And then,
like a stroke of luck,
You find water in a glass,
But here's the catch,
The water is poisoned,
A drink is certain death,
But if you do not drink,
You die of thirst,
This is Kobayashi Maru
What would you do?
-
He laughed,
Grabbed the woman's hand,
The woman I loved,
Do you understand?
The veiled threat,
To be with his woman
is death,
to be without her,
for me is worse,
-
Either way,
there is no victory,
no happy ending,
There are no fairy tales here
my darling,
I do love you,
But all this, Kobayashi Maru....