with mud and spittle[ a poem inspired by the latest round of xenophobic attacks in south africa]

with mud and spittle
south africa regain your sight
that dream should be on course
that those fractured lives
may once more be mended

with mud and spittle
south africa regain your sight
that which led to umkhonto we sizwe
forging close ties with zipra
combined forces for a worthy cause

with mud and spittle
south africa regain your sight
that you may lead african rennaisance
that you may know your africanness
that you may never again be blinded

with mud and spittle
south africa regain your sight
that you may vividly see
that the crumbs are not worth it
that the best is yet to come

with mud and spittle
south africa regain your sight
that you may see this fratricide
that the real wealth is not in shacks
but siphoned away to their capital cities

with mud and spittle
south africa regain your sight
that the evil axis benefits
that the anglo-saxon alliance gains
when you kill your own kith and kin

with mud and spittle
south africa regain your sight
that you may put the final nail
into the coffin of apartheid
that the pan african dream lives

tragedy

tragedy

when mothers die
die during national service
replenishing the national supply
the national supply of workers
that is a tragedy

war torn souls

they know the wailing
the wailing of their raped mothers

they do not know of the laughter
nor the songs of joy at the playing fields

they do not know of the school bell
but the stuttering of assault rifles

the smell of strewn dead bodies
that they have become accustomed to

children robbed of their childhoods
young minds dented beyond repair

war mongers spare no thought
while the children die alive

[ inspired by having viewed a syrian boy on cnn]