Mwana Wevhu Dance

Mwana wevhu
Child of the soil
One foot here, one foot home
The ground remembers every step

Mwana wevhu
Mwana wevhu
Hands up, shoulders loose
Do the Mwana Wevhu Dance

Saturday rain on a foreign-town hall
Folding chairs pushed against the wall
Foil on the sadza, orange drink on ice
Uncle Tawanda tests the speaker twice
My little one watches the grown-ups sway
Zimbabwe scarf nearly touching the floor
He asks why the mbira makes everybody smile
Why Grandma sings through the telephone
Then the first deep log drum crosses the room
And every conversation makes it space

No red dust underneath these shoes
Still there is a step the feet remember
One, two — let the shoulders answer
Three, four — child of the soil

Mwana wevhu, one foot home
The ground remembers what the miles don't know
When your grandfather's step comes through
That's the Mwana Wevhu Dance in you

Hands up, shoulders loose
Heel, toe, turn and clap
Hands up, shoulders loose
Do the Mwana Wevhu Dance

First try, he turns one beat too soon
Trips on the scarf and laughs with the room
Auntie Rudo ties it round his waist
Says, Don't chase the drum — give it space
Grandma watches from a cracked phone screen
Calling the count from across the sea
Heel to the floor, then shoulder, then turn
He misses it twice, but the third one lands
Grandma covers her mouth and laughs
Those are your grandfather's feet
Now six small children copy the move
And the whole hall follows their lead

No red dust underneath their shoes
Still there is a step the feet remember
One, two — let the shoulders answer
Three, four — child of the soil

Mwana wevhu, one foot home
The ground remembers what the miles don't know
When your grandfather's step comes through
That's the Mwana Wevhu Dance in you

Heel on one
One!
Toe on two
Two!
Shoulder three
Three!
Turn on four
Turn!
Hands up five
Five!
Clap on six
Clap!
Two steps home
Home!
Child of the soil
Hey!

On the ride home he asks me softly
If I've never walked that village road
If I only know the place from all your stories
Am I still a child of the soil?
Before I answer, Grandma's voice returns
A child does not lose home by growing far
She says his name the way my father did
And four generations enter the rhythm
Home is not only where your feet began
It is what you carry, teach and pass along

Mwana wevhu, one foot home
Grandma's laugh comes through the phone
Those old feet found one child new
That's the Mwana Wevhu Dance in you
Mwana wevhu, raise your hands
Every child can learn the road
One foot here and one foot home
The ground remembers where we come from

Folding chairs and empty trays
Battery blinking beside the car
He keeps practicing in the parking lot
One foot here, one foot home
Mwana wevhu
The ground remembers every step