Best Township Poems
Cant sleep because I still smell the smoke on my clothes from the fire we just put out.
I cant help but think about the soul we lost this early morning
Mornings are supposed to be filled with fresh air, birds singing, children playing happily.
Let me introduce u to my world, where dead rats, filthy green moldy water standing on the street is what u up too.
Welcome to ekasi (the ghetto/ township).
Children electrocuted till death by faulty wires while playing.
I cant help it but being robbed while going to the shop everyday.
Going to college feels like a crime because people judge saying u think u better than everyone.
My condolences to each & every innocent soul lost in these grounds my heart bleeds for u, no soul lost will be forgotten
Dear government I hope u are able to sleep well at night while making empty promises & forgetting the souls you live behind, there blood is in ur hands
Township girl
And human suffering
Glamorized
A little town bathed in light
Green fields, blue crystal rivers
perfect roads, winding this
way and
that
Perfect People in a Perfect World
dogs wag tails of joy with,
children, feet skipping, enthused
The lawns neatly cut, sprinklers
lead water into Perfect gutters
bikes ride, kites fly, games
played
Darkness looms upon the hills
A black snake, it creeps towards
its Perfect prey,
A red-eye, writhed in smoke and atoms
crashed and Booms in the distance
Harbringer of Death and Decay
CHANGE
A little town bathed in ash
Dead fields, red rivers running
Roads uprooted, winding this
way and
that
Perfect People in a Perfect Tomb
dogs tails lay unmoving
children's feet crumbled together
lawns overrun, sprinklers wash
running red into over-dosed gore
plugged gutters
bikes are mangled, kits torn
games of politicians abrogate all
A small music box lays dead-center
playing, echoing across the town
the only memory of hope and suddenly
GONE
gone, lifted away by the midday
sky
blasted out of existence
choked by ASH
A little town bathed in Time
Township life
The poorest of the poor
Did you hear about jerry?
All day long, from 7:15 am today, needs come
To my gate, with either "pastor " or "vaderrr"
Justin & John T needed breakfast before work
They did not go directly, to fellow churchgoer
I found some biscuits (10 ordinary ones) apples
Then Siya came for oil, Siyabulela that is,
Burns on both elbows. I risked it all
A week ago, they were raw wounds
I applied coconut oil, when gloves were gone
He came to thank me (but lazy to wait in line
At the community clinic). Lines form at 5am
3 hours before a few nurses come (no doc)
I added some elbow help - but with gloves!
Before I could rest with tea and poetry
Zihle ( Zeez Sleh) was yelling at mom, others
She lives in the Xhosa location, visits grandma
When her sons are in school (non weekends)
I felt for her, calmed her (home was left unclean)
She was throwing stuff out, yelling & cleaning
---+
We are blessed in these "township locations"
Surrounded by hills, Amatola mountains
Polluted & unappreciated, but I looked up
We do not look up enough. Earth focused we!
The hills remind me of the psalmist's prayer
I look to the hills, where my help come from
I look to the hills where my rest comes from
I look to the hills, green hills, God's hills
And remember shalom, wholesomeness amen
There is a place that doesn't go to sleep,
From dawn to dusk,
Nothing changes,
Desire is on the run.
There is a place where ambition and rivalry are birthed,
Sycophants seize the day,
Sing their praises and the door is left open,
Sing their praises and opportunity smiles at you.
There is a place where gloom pervades the decision chambers,
The leaders are saddled with the enigma,
The missing pieces are hidden from the light,
The night is recalcitrant to let out.
There is a place where rapid-paid ransom returns the captives,
A delay in delivery detonates the bomb,
To the earth, the bodies finally belong,
An eternal loss and anguish of hearts.
January 19, 2024.