Friday 31 May 2019

Shall I compare thee to the Bard's best rhyme?

It has been quite a while since I wrote a parody. Here one I just penned - based on the famous Sonnet no. 8 by Shakespeare:

Shall I compare thee to the Bard's best rhyme?
Thou art less iambic and even less contained:
Certain verses grow heavy over the course of time,
And rhythmic metres art all too restrained:

Sometime too blunt the blade of the metaphor cuts,
And often is his bold intention deflated;
And every line so vacuously flaunts and struts,
By will, or poet's flawed ego, fated:

But thy wordless silence shall not wane,
Nor lose composure of the still breath thou inhal'st;
Nor shall Noise drag thou into his clamorous terrain
When unbounded Quiet thou still do crav’st:

So long as minds can strive for soundless peace,
And let these words dissolve; all restlessness will cease.

And here the original -


Sonnet VIII
- Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed:

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Tuesday 28 May 2019

soos 'n kat

ek rangskik my lyf soos ‘n kat
onder jou hande
my vel gedurig opsoek
na jou aanraking


Wednesday 15 May 2019

die bloeiende pers tonge

die bloeiende pers tonge van die buddleja salviifolia rinkink teen die hange
ek vergeet die sjambolika van my tye
ek kom sit en asem ink-sugte uit oor die papier

die middernagtelike komplotte om transendentale strewes te koester
gee my siel vastrapplek in die konundromiese penaries 
wat alewig kapperjolle speel in die solders van my sintuie

ek sit pens en pootjies in die middel van die sillabes
wil weer soos 'n kind sorgvry klieder en kruip 
en klouter met al wat nuut en wondertorend is

die tugmeester binne my wil gedurig dinge korrigeer
so venynig hierdie gewoontes van haar
en so versot om my as haar pak-esel toe te snou 

ek keer elke keer terug na die blues van laerskool-herinneringe
hoe ek my moontlike genietinge so dikwels in parentese sit
hoekom verkrag ek die oomblik met verstoppende onmin?!

ek begeer om soos die xmen bomenslike kragte te kan uitvoer
pomp adamantium in my are
beskerm my teen die uitmergeling en aanstootlikheid

Saturday 11 May 2019

verwarreling

uit hierdie wilde wind wil ek ontvlug
en myself in jou arms toedig
die verwarreling in die woesteny
van 'n hart wat enige oomblik
my kan laat staan of laat vlieg...
en tog kies dit meer kere die vlieg
want wie wil die vlerke toevou as
die soete lug aan die skouers gaan bly klou?

Friday 3 May 2019

ekosisteem

soos klippe op die grond
pak ek my woorde uit
dat wanneer ek hulle
na maande weer gaan optel
‘n hele ekosisteem onder hulle uitbroei