ode to a cape turtle dove

 

in the throes
of a bird life’s here or there
then, could you choose?
with life hinged on one option
out of the violent storm.
could there have  been another?

what other thicket? i know,
the greenbelt’s become
wood in a stranger’s fire.
a tired fight, not defeated
yet, with burners’ memory short
tinder, like embers, have grown eager

so, to a perch, the, that perch, under-roof
with a ,the, that dog drooling
with a taste for bird…

was this all?
no way out, no flight, space
nowhere to hide, sit.
no place in between
bird and dog with hunger
in a storm with no rest

in what murphy’s to offer,
a frenzied flutter would end
in a wet plumed clutch.
insatiable hunger resolved
to eat morsel to the feather
in the beating storm

the weather would subside
to the easy calm of a post-storm,
under roof, the dog licked a paw.
there was no choice, option
to weather the elements,
nowhere else than to die, a meal?

outside, a violent storm
under-roof, a cold and hungry dog
could you have chosen the latter?
in between the violence of winter
and the claw of a canine’s hunger,
you were not driven to the former.
!gda

die kop van’ie hotnotsgot

díe here
het’ie boesmanstaal geklap’ie
sy konsonante gekliek, of liewers, ge-asemsuig’ie
of sy vokale geklapsoen’ie
en in gesang gekringmaandans’ie

díe here
en sy mense
het’ie boesmanseden geken’ie
hul pyle vergiftig of boë gespan’ie
gegaar en gejag’ie, saam-saam
deur hemels-aarde getrap-dans’ie

díe here
en sy mense se mense
kan steeds’ie boesmanstaal klap’ie
of mense van mense se trap-dans dans’ie.
die boesman bid tot ‘n ander here
díe wat boesmanstaal kan trap
!gda

flexing some muffle

like it hurts
in places only
zol can reach

it stays sore
where only alcohol
can bring relief

there's this bubble
i'm fumbling in
keeping strangers out

i wear a mask
and speak muffle, though
fail to hear it well

“muffle” may not
be new as
a local lang

who knows, post-covid19
maybe muffle as
lingua-franca looms
!gda

death looked up

when death looked up
at… the camera,
the world, humanity
coldly in the eye, holding
the gaze of a lens
with murderous skill
and the depraved outlook
of an exercised impunity…
it killed the innocence
of proudly racist society
!gda

#covid19overheard

Start/
#chronicalcoronas

from the bedroom (FTB): it can be anything,
stay ma’ away

from the lounge (FRL): it can’t just be anything
like everything and anything can be it…
that would mean we must fear everything
and everyone, from now on, forever…
where would it end

FRB (A): yes, it can be any thing, for all we know

FTL (B): no, it can’t be any thing
we know it’s a virus, a novel virus
so no vaccine…

A: see!

B: I was going to say, “yet”, no vaccine yet…
they will know more and more…over time
to come up with a vaccine they would have to
science does, normally…

A: o, so, “they” is science… but wat mean daai? novel?

B: soes new, brand new

A: soes bond, james bond, ja
alles is a mystery in ‘n conspiracy
kyk’ie geweld, orals op al die levels
dis ‘n geluk om te lewe
die wereld oor,
but wie maak wat
wie kan wat maak
ons raak te oud

B: the youth, the youth

A: the youths? Hallo-ho! as I remember it,
yous didn’t want to inherit any of this,
or be saddled with the political luggage
or historical baggage of your parents and
grandparents…borne free, mos…kyk nou
now, you stand to dodge the moral obligation
of your generation to engage the memory
of lady justice, to consolidate on the progress
van die struggle
not to go bos, enslaved by
what’s west… lekker joppe, mos…
geleerentheid, verdien so lekker geld
…independent. kar, mos…
en so, op die pad…en koep en koep, so.
het apartheid dan die jong mense skaam gemaak..?
wat is soe arrag van die struggle teen racial oppression
exploitation. kyk die poverty. niks planne nie…

B: it’s a new south africa
a new generation…
a new page

A: novel, ja. ‘n novel generation
nogge novel generation
wat goed kan kom van daai?
there’s no such thing as a break from history,
waar het jy daai gehoor
where you can just ignore what goes before
ek het daai vir hulle gesê, daai tyd al
don’t paint over the cracks
like, watter future lê in daai?
naai man, maak reg en
gat lekker vorentoe, saam

B: at least things didn’t get worse…
ek sê ma’ net, it could have been worse

A: how worse can it get
look at the situation in the townships now
got! if the news is to be believed
nogge knock!
particularly now
you know what they say
about truth at times of war…
is net world at war,
world at war vibes,
nooit ge-end nie

how long till the mask is pulled
from off the face of
this political miracle
kyk hoe swaar kry die mense nog
it’s not right,
dit gat ‘n blerrie bakleiery afgee

but it’s still a mystery
the whole thing is a  mystery

B: yes, science is a mystery

A: the land is a question unanswered, still. go figure.

End/

let’s face it

i took counsel
the student was ready…

“let’s face it”, he said
“don’t be confused
just because you hate it
doesn’t mean some
mean naai isn’t
out to skop you hard
in your poes, for a joke.
learn to make a fist
with your open heart…”

he didn’t mince his words
and the teaching was taken
as such

ever since i’ve found
hands and hearts as
two sides of the same coin
that when i turn the mint
to flip slowly over
that in the in-betweens
where both disappear
there is a mirror
where i see myself

my open hand
positioned to heal
a hurting part
!gda

kan jy ha’loep

…but nou sit hy
en sit ’n speel met
‘n moerse kapmes
op sy skoot
en slat-slat so tien
sy binne bien
nou en dan
nou kom ek aan
no way out
ek loep soemma
straight sy kant toe
hy vra toe vir my
waar lêrrit?
but hy mean it soes
wat het jy? like soes
saam gebring
soeveel te sê…
ek mean
hoe antwoord jy daai vraag
toe hy dink ek kyk vir hom
toe kyk ek verby vir ‘n way
nou, mid-sentence
van ‘n ahoy!
slip ek my rugsak
een arm uit
met ‘n down-gaze…
toe skiet ek
toe ek weer omkyk
toe staan hy nog daar, sel’e plek
onder sy gat uit
toe wys ek hom
jy! Uh!
kan jy ha’loep
!gda