Tend your garden, child,
for the weeds of the soul
are stubborn as drought.
Kupona is one of the earliest known female poets of
the Swahili tradition. Her most famous poem is a
didactic lesson for her daughter on nature and
cultivation. In this poem, she is practical and poetic.
She uses the metaphor of tending the land to teach
spiritual discipline. It is a reminder that self-care,
like farming, requires work, rhythm, and attention.
From A Poem A Day: African Continent
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