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NO HAWKERS

Posted Jan 13, 2026 · 38 lines · 2 critiques

The sign is nailed to a wall,
black letters, confident, clean-
as if hunger ever read notices.

She arrives before the sun learns the street.
A woman with bananas cradled like children,
oranges sweating dawn,
apples bruised from yesterday.
Her back bends without ceremony;
her feet know where not to belong.

She does not trade in receipts
or counters,
no bell announces her opening.

Her work happens by presence-
a body placed where need passes,

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a living negotiated in plain sight.

She earns by standing,
by waiting,
by refusing to vanish.

When chased, she does not argue.
There is no slogan in her mouth.
She gathers herself, moves ten steps away,
sets down hope again on another corner.
Tomorrow she will return,

and I am already passing-
fruit in my hands,
saying nothing well enough.

Her fruit holds light against the concrete.
Bananas promise fullness,
oranges carry strength,
apples insist on being ordinary.
She sells nourishment
while living on endurance.

Still, the sign remains: NO HAWKERS.
But every morning, she answers-
with presence, with patience,
with hands that do not disappear.
The city eats.
And she stands.

Vusumzi Matomane’s timeline

March 2026
27 Fri

New follower
@Lavender
January 2026
18 Sun

Received a critique
on NO HAWKERS from @Sen99
"Hello Poet You have crafted an interesting piece, the title, beginning and ending were good. The theme is one of defiance, a strong portrait of this woman. Nice share thanks Sen99"
13 Tue

Posted a poem
NO HAWKERS
"The sign is nailed to a wall,"
Open thread 38 lines
11 Sun

Received a critique
on Silence In Not Absence from @Lavender
"Hello, welcome to Neopoet! I feel the devotion, compassion, and protection throughout. "The fragile future...never alone." A wonderful interpretation of the image. Thank you so much! Lavender"
11 Sun

New follower
@Leslie
11 Sun

Received a critique
on Silence In Not Absence from @Leslie
"It would be nice to be unburdened this way, but that's not the way things exist. If your life is that free just look around. I'm sure you can see that no one is truly free, except in their thoughts and will to be free…"
11 Sun

Received a critique
on Silence In Not Absence from @Geezer
"the contest and your work requires no special attention by the contest judges. I enjoyed the scene that you have described; especially; "a child sleeps across careful knees." Anyone who has held a child that way, on the…"
11 Sun

First publication
Silence In Not Absence
11 Sun

Posted a poem
Silence In Not Absence
"Snow gathers against the window,"
Open thread 32 lines
10 Sat

New follower
@mark
09 Fri

Joined Neopoet
Membership begins

First poem published 2 days later.

NO HAWKERS

@Lavender

on NO HAWKERS from @Sen99

NO HAWKERS

on Silence In Not Absence from @Lavender

@Leslie

on Silence In Not Absence from @Leslie

on Silence In Not Absence from @Geezer

Silence In Not Absence

Silence In Not Absence

@mark

Membership begins

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