Best Veld Poems
A BUSH FIRE
One scorching afternoon,
A sudden splintering sound was heard,
The nearest was the buffalo herd,
They smelt the smoke and felt the heat,
And began to charge, they had to beat,
The, scorching red hot fire.
The monkeys who swing and never tire,
Screeched loudly in tongues,
Whilst smoke, stole oxygen out of their lungs.
A mighty midget the porcupine,
Warned chancers that his quills so fine,
Would incur great pain
Not only a red blood stain,
For he dreaded to be turned belly up,
And had no intention, of being anyone’s sup!
The birds began to fly very high,
Away from the smoke, in the sky.
The unfortunate tortoise lost his way,
And sadly, with his life, had to pay.
The giraffe with tall spindly legs
Ran wildly destroying nests and eggs,
His wildness came from his wrath,
And, the chaos along his path.
The animals ran faster away from the fire,
Whilst the flames leapt higher and higher.
A mamba slithered forward next,
Whilst a frightened cub looked on perplexed,
A Zebra, tripped and broke his back,
Causing more confusion in this race track.
The springbok and hyena together ran,
They were now close to the water pan,
The pan was next to a river,
Would they make it,
Each animal began to quiver,
Could the springbok be tomorrow’s lunch,
A tree falls with a thud and crunch,
Distracting the hyena from his would be munch!
The fox cunningly glances from side to side,
Nimbly a burning log jumps wide.
The lions mouth their cubs gently but tight,
As they run from this horrendous plight.
But water is in sight!
Everyone is close to the finish line,
This race has become competitively fine,
The crocodiles are savagely waiting to dine!
They have spotted their first meal,
The frightened perplexed cub hurriedly steal.
Only a quarter,
Can get into the water.
A stampede starts, animals clamber over each other,
The young ones protected by their mother.
Unfortunately only the strongest will survive,
To tell future generations of their strive,
Of what it’s like, living a bush veld life.
Categories:
veld, animal, fire,
Form:
Rhyme
A bird of grandiose stature, he struts the veld
do not anger him for his powerful kick
can main or even kill. Gently he watches
over his brood their mother left long ago.
It falls onto him to incubate their eggs.
Impressive wing span as he shades his chicks
from the relentless midday scorching sun.
Watch those long legs hammering away
as he chases off a rival who strays too close.
Yet for all his strength and size a pea of a brain
famous for hiding his head in the sand
as if it will make him invisible from sight,
he does look so weird bum stuck up in the air.
Attracted by anything that glitters
he gobbles up all sorts of weird things.
Once tamed his joy is to run in races but rarely
in a straight line as he veers here and there,
oft times leaving mayhem in his wake.
As dusk falls he gathers up his brood
and struts off into the setting sun
his life is really quite a simple one
with freedom to roam the sunlit veld.
Categories:
veld, africa, bird, nature,
Form:
Personification
I am a soldier of my land,
a defender of the earth.
The heavens above as the,
showers to quench the soil.
But when it has been tamed,
the fish-eagle soars to the sky.
My spirit runs free here,
I am an African born.
A home to many people,
home to many a tongue.
The sweet scent of veld,
grass in the air.
The tang of a red soil on my,
tongue.
The majesty of the stinkwood,
as it basks in the African,
sun.
Calls me home,
yes it calls me home.
Categories:
veld, africa,
Form:
ABC
Aluta continua
Was that word another message replaced
And the room spun dark as web
The tree no longer walks the night
The bush is silent on the veld
Madiba has passed the lion sleeping
Has left the fruit falling
Has left the children walking by the light
Of stars
Like Biko, telling him to come
And the women crying in Soweto
Azania like a long shadow falling
On our frozen consciousness:
The great man is free at last.
This freedom is a new kind without a new to come
Dawning on the memory of the world -
I stood for a minute when I heard
Broken again in my silence
By the subtle return of my chain
Of mortality, suffering under that brutal heel
And could not shake this death out of me
All of us dying eternally -
For the wages they paid, the pittance
That could not feed us
For twenty seven years of fragments
That reduces a man’s life to bandages of accolades
Madiba is gone
And I will not say farewell to a struggle that wears
Out a man, but will not retire itself.
It was a long sleep, comrade
But we will wake again, we wake
To the consciousness of your absence
That we must dig the hole for you
And plant the legacy tree of your courage
Inside the village of tomorrow.
Tired, I would sleep too, I would lay
Down and dream of Fidel outside Pretoria
That my chains are only cloth
And my dreams are balls of fire
Too far away, too futile
Twenty seven years of anger, where I
Shoot and die, another star like Biko
We all are dead long before you left
I knew that when I stood
For a minute silence and did not breathe.
Categories:
veld, death,
Form:
Elegy
Well if you insist
I am not the color of my skin or the clothes on my back.
I am not who or what you assume me to be.
I am not a foul mouthed gun toting beer swigging cigarette smoking menace to society.
I am not a high school drop-out uneducated crime committing felon.
I am not your local hi-jacker who ties you up and tosses you in the boot, drops you off in the middle of the veld for no one to find.
I am Christian and proud of it!
I am A father A lover A brother and A proud uncle and role model to miniatures of me.
I am Leader and a thinker and a doer and speaker.
I am confident and loud.
I am a product of my father and his forefathers.
I am product of my mother’s womb and wisdom.
I am fearless I am Sound I Am a proud African Son!
And I will live my life so that long after my passing it will be remembered!
W.Arends
Categories:
veld, africa, brother, father, identity,
Form:
Abecedarian
The corn is sweeping low;
her tasseled head is bent,
as dying souls lament
about the waning glow.
This life too quickly fades,
thin mists that pale the glade.
In furrows dark and dry,
the kernels, hard, that fall
beneath the autumn squall,
now lie alone. Awry
the seed the wind propelled
to propagate the veld.
So life reflects the corn
that dies to bloom reborn.
Copyright, August 16, 2015
Faye Lanham Gibson
Categories:
veld, life,
Form:
Sonnet
The accident
Its as if I can see you rolling on that veld
With your head hitting on the stones.
Its as if I can hear your loud cry as the trees keep on ripping your clothes.
I can see that car rolling after you.
Its as if I can hear this prayer in your grief.
Its as if I can hear your heart shout "I jumped out of that car, why is it rolling over me?"
Its as if I can see your tears running down your cheeks.
Its as if I can see you crawling on your knees trying to be safe.
That "boom" sound made by your car
Your loud cry accompanied by that "Why is this happening to me?" question.
With dark red fabric Thus the flame.
All left me in tears ...
Categories:
veld, bereavement,
Form:
Free verse
In the hearts of eastern side,
One day I will return.
Ashamed and with the spirit of abandonment but
I’m sure you’ll still be standing,
Holding on to the wheel and spear,
That you were told it’s your savior
Leaders find pleasure in your suffering
Rivals find comfort in your presents.
Yes, you raised heroes, you made legends
But you backwards in a race, forward in disgrace towards on
Embrace inadequacy.
One day I will return, to those valleys,
Veld and the mountains of the great one,
Where my ancestors were placed, where home is,
One day I will defiantly return, to bring joy, peace and comfort
to the hearts of the unfortunate, pleased in mind, rich in pasture,
Surely my ancestors are calling me,
That is why one day I will return, to use my clicks fluently,
Dance comfortable and walk permanently.
To Eastern Cape, where my heart is, will be and was.
In Eastern side, seeing those beautiful faces, women dancing with joy
With paint in their faces, entirely free from the world around me,
Ubuntu glancing, life excitedly and society in one,
One day, I mean one, one day i will return,
With my mouth unable to converse fluently, but surely i will learn.
One day I will return, to Eastern Cape where i belong.
One day i will return HOME,
my place of comfort. my homeland,
MY COUNTRY, my South Africa
Categories:
veld, africa, birth, celebration, change,
Form:
Free verse
I love the quiet and long shadows of winter,
Thrown as I walk in the veld through brown grass tall,
When the sun is low and the cold is bitter.
Finches and waxbills no longer twitter.
Under foot the frost crackles at each footfall.
I love the quiet and long shadows of winter.
In the silence deep I have an urge to call
Out loud, to claim a patch however small.
When the sun is low and the cold is bitter.
Alone in the veld I feel that I own it
As far as my shadow reaches. And recall
I love the quiet and long shadows of winter.
A slight breeze ruffles the grass like a drifter.
As the day is ended there comes nightfall
When the sun is low and the cold is bitter.
Now far away I see candle lights flicker.
As the cold night bites I tug on a shawl.
I love the quiet and long shadows of winter
When the sun is low and the cold is bitter.
Categories:
veld, dark, environment, winter,
Form:
Villanelle
Meet me in the veld
Where the wind carresses
Our intimate vows
My hero is the dawn
That unites our hearts
Categories:
veld, africa,
Form:
Tanka
As you can see I am very big,...
One of the biggest forests in the world.
I belong to a major league
Of chief forests of the veld.
I pack, daily, tons of oxygen
Which I release to the atmosphere.
That gas, along with nitrogen,
Needs replenishment as part of air.
In here you can pick things to eat right away
But most of my gifts to the world
Are not visible day to day
Though by them life's pillars are held.
I have mentioned world oxygen.
There are also pulp and paper,
Many ingredients used in medicine
As well as your flora and fauna!
We are called the lungs of the planet,
And as such we should be respected;
But we are facing the worst challenge yet:
By men's schemes we're being decimated!
What is most loathsome of all
Is when men use us in their wars.
They detonate and fire their wherewithal
And leave bad memories and scars!
Go and warn your fellow men
That original features like us
Have been ever here since Eden
And tampering with us is dangerous!
Categories:
veld, creation, environment, fruit, nature,
Form:
Rhyme
Love transcends all
By Michelle Morris
18/03/2023
When we were first separated
It felt like a shot to the heart
Feeling like I wouldn't make it
The world becoming grey and dark
People thought I was fine
No one looked past my smile
Into the soul deep sadness
Behind my hazel eyes
Oh, under starry skies
Oh, can we share the light
Oh, love transcends all miles
Oh, bring me back my smile
Oh, under starry skies
Oh, can we share the miles
Oh, love transcends all borders
Oh, bring me back my daughter
Across the world in Africa
Where lions are kings and rulers
Where zebras stripe across the veld
And springbok jump through hoops
Where the sun beats down
Hot and ceaseless every day
I'm on a cool, rainbow island
Where green hills lead me away
Oh, under starry skies
Oh, can we share the light
Oh, love transcends all miles
Oh, bring me back my smile
Oh, under starry skies
Oh, can we share the miles
Oh, love transcends all borders
Oh, bring me back my daughter
Worlds apart, worlds apart
Only sharing the same skies
Where the stars see everything
And the angels mourn our lives
Universe, Universe
Let's go into a new timezone
Where we are always together
Beyond dreams and hope
Oh, under starry skies
Oh, can we share the light
Oh, love transcends all miles
Oh, bring me back my smile
Oh, under starry skies
Oh, can we share the miles
Oh, love transcends all borders
Oh, bring me back my daughter
© Michelle Morris, 2023
Categories:
veld, i miss you, love,
Form:
Lyric
Anticipation
This morning the sky was bright red
Before turning to a dirty milk
The air is still
The heat is intense and dry
You can hear the leaves crackle underfoot
You can feel the energy in the air increasing
Like a coiled spring
You wait for the impending storm
Excitement growing with every hour
The smell of fire drifts on a breeze
Veld is burning
Animals running trying to escape
The smell of rain is still far away
Anticipation
By Maxie MacDonald
Revelation 1 v 7 & 8
7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Categories:
veld, bible, christian, faith,
Form:
Narrative
The purple and grey clouds
come like giant airships
baptizing the veld with millions of drops
falling gently like feathers
The plants dance merrily
earth sings a serenade of thanks
Categories:
veld, environment, nostalgia, rain,
Form:
Free verse
"The sounds of Earth Is the Music of my Soul"
Earth Seeks to Entertain
No sound pleases me like falling rain.
When it drums on my roof
It banishes my every pain.
Its little drops both cheer and sooth.
When it hisses majestically out there
And I'm keeping warm indoors
It makes me want to show I care
And I thank the heavens, its source.
Thunder also talks to me
Whether it growls, rumbles or cracks.
Of greatness an epitome
Alone such awesome power packs!
Waterfalls are no less wondrous,
Especially when they are multiple.
Their clamour is continuous,
Playing for us a natural fiddle.
Out in the veld when I hear a croak
From the husky throat of a crow
It dresses my soul like a cloak
And I think: "What a show!"
There's a myriad of healthful sounds
That Earth seeks to entertain with.
The list of these knows no bounds:
Sounds of Earth that scare or sooth!
Date written: 8/20,2022
Contest: Writing Challenge - Let Your Muse be Inspired
- R Form Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
Categories:
veld, care, creation, earth, music,
Form:
Rhyme