Monday 22 September 2014

nuwe stem

met die vibrasie van hierdie nuwe stem
begolf ek die kuswande
van die gevestigde Ecca lande
en slyp ek skerp die snykant van my tonglem

met die sinsasie van tong teen tand
ril die rugstring van my verhemelte tot in die verstand
val ek halsoorkop oor elke sinsnede
vermallend opsoek na woordelike rede

totdat die kern van alle senuwees versinsualiseer
en geen tongval my sal keer
dat wanneer my stem gaan opstaan
my liggaam en siel agterna sal gaan

 *ek het vandag hierdie gedig van my herontdek. Dit is geskryf in 2008 en is die eerste gedig wat Ecca gepubliseer het toe ek lid word van hulle digtersgroep (die bundel Spaces, 2009). Dit is so lekker om 'n gedig van soveel jare terug te herlees en nog gelukkig met die inhoud daarvan te wees. Dikwels is ek skaam oor my jonger dae se digkuns, maar hierdie gedig het my nou verras en weer inspireer!

Friday 19 September 2014

Let me not to the juncture of false hearts

Let me not to the juncture of false hearts 
Admit to trickery. Truth is not truth 
When it breaks when it breaking finds,
Or warps with the trickster to trick:
Oh no, it is in an ever-steady state,
That spots the masks and is not beguiled;
It is the sun to every seeking eye,
Who sees the light, although the quest never ends.
Truth’s not the world’s fool, though doubt and deceit 
Within its greedy claws comes.
Truth alters not with the mind’s knife and the tongue’s spear,
But lives it out even to the edge of sanity.
If this be error, and upon our instincts prov'd
The heart never lived, nor no light ever mov'd.

*I used the structure (and minimal quotation) of Shakespeare' sonnet 116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds to inspire this parody

Monday 15 September 2014

geprogammeerde blomme

vir wat sal ek myself so
verstar in my blindheid?
myself verblind met my starheid?
in hierdie rare hoë-haakskoen oomblik
kom sit ek in die kar
weg van almal
die bruilofsbabbelry en geglimlaggery
is net te veel vir my
ek kom sus myself met die gly van die pen
haakskoene gegooi op die dashbord
wil ek net hierdie saterdag-middag
aan die slaap sus
met al die seëninge van ‘n veronderstelde jesus
met al die gefranchisede bruilofs-vereistes
die siellose seremonie-saal
die verblindende wit rok
en verkoekte strooimeisies
wil my hart net weghardloop
van al hierdie geprogammeerde blomme en gelukwensing
hardloop my voete na 
die hoek van die agterjaart vol leë stowwerige glasbottels
en geroeste draadstoele
niemand sal my hier vind nie
deur die rumoer is ek onsigbaar
oomblikse stilte en onmalheid

Thursday 11 September 2014

that damned curtain!

you have seen that curtain on the aeroplanes
separating business from economy class
seemingly wanting to hide the rich from the not so rich
the comfortable from the not so comfortable

what the fuck!

i just don’t understand how 
a piece of blandly coloured fabric can separate
business from economy
i thought the two belonged together!

why the fuck?

how many of those curtains are out there
reinstating apartheid in the skies?!

the insurgency is burning hot inside of me
how is this piece of unsightly drapery going to prevent me from 
leaping from my tight economic seat to go pouncing 
right into the spacious luxuriousness of business class?

i do not mind that there are people who can afford
double the legroom and more degrees of seat recline
larger personal TV screens and premium food and wine service
amenity kits with socks slippers pajamas eye masks and toiletries
more privacy and increased cabin staff to passenger ratio
i do mind that curtain though
it is so starched with separatism
it spoils my enjoyment of the miracle of flying

i have been asked that if i could choose
on which side of the curtain i would like to sit?
my answer : not either
i will sit on the wing, why thank you
there where all the sky is my legroom
all the air is my nourishment
and all the clouds and coloured spectrums of light
is my in-flight entertainment

that curtain is obstructing my hopeful view of humankind
doesn’t anyone realise what a pitiable gesture it is?
it is disgusting how it stands in the way of progress 
fuck it! rip it down! rip it down!

these piddly little curtains only symbolise
narrowmindedness way over its sell-by-date
it is so incredibly hideous and abominable and offensive
so frightfully absurd, appalling and depressing
this classism just does not belong in the unbounded skies!
how can we allow this on the aeroplanes that cross
borders and bring nations and families together?!

i have been asked that if i could choose
on which side of the curtain i would like to sit?
my answer : not either
i will sit on the wing, why thank you
there where all the sky is my legroom
all the air is my nourishment
and all the clouds and coloured spectrums of light
is my in-flight entertainment

argh!! that curtain annoys the hell out of me
however the air-hostess keeps on 
tugging and pulling it shut
i can see right through it
call me a socialist, i don’t care!
i just don’t have the stomach for this sham
it is a masquerade of a vicious kind
all that the curtain does is to demonstrate
how mindlessly we are perpetuating shameless discrimination!
if the plane gets bombed or crashes, ALL will suffer the same fate
the curtain won’t then distinguish the rich from the not so rich
the comfortable from the not so comfortable

i will sit on the wing, why thank you
there where all the sky is my legroom
all the air is my nourishment
and all the clouds and coloured spectrums of light
is my in-flight entertainment

curtains belong on stages and
in puppet shows

this type of hiding and dividing makes me sick!
damn that curtain! rip it down! rip it down!
jubilantly cut it into a thousand pieces 
and throw it into the freedom of the winds