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!

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

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

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