[Afrikaans Poem with English Translation]
Ek onthou jou toe die spiese naby my was,
En die swaarde het uit my bloed gedrink.
Maar ek wou die swaarde soen,
Soos hulle gegrom het soos jou helder glimlag.
Ek is dronk van die rooiwyn van jou liefde,
So van so 'n dronkaard.
Moenie die hart vra oor die geheim van my hart nie,
Want liefde binne ons... kan nie met die tong uitgespreek word nie.
English Translation
I remember you when the spears were near me,
and the swords drank from my blood.
But I wanted to kiss the swords,
as they wave like your bright smile.
I am drunk on the red wine of your love,
so from such a drunkard.
Don't ask the heart about the secret of my love,
because love within us... cannot be expressed with the tongue.
* Dear PoetrySoup members. I wrote an Afrikaans poem and I understand that many of you do not understand the Afrikaans language and I wrote the English Translation of this poem. Enjoy reading my poem.
Afrikaaps
Die oggend is nat
hul lop op hul gat skool toe
die klokkie het kla gelui
is omdat hulle nie
tuissie gedoen nie
lag hulle uit
Afrikaans Translation
Dit het gereen
die kinders loop stadig skool toe
alhoewel die skool klok gelui het.
Hulle het nie hul huiswerk gedoen nie.
Ons lag vir hulle.
English Translation
It has rained
the morning is wet
school kids are slowly
trampling to school
though the school bell
has rung.
They have not completed
their homework.
We are laughing at them.
[Poet’s Note : The direct translation of the second line in the Afrikaaps version would be : “They are walking on their buttocks to skool.”
The direct translation of the last line in the Afrikaaps version would be :
“Laugh at them” or “make fun of them” or
“laugh until they leave.”
Notice how more colourful, jiving and idiomatic the Afrikaaps version is. Because of its origin in Cape Slavery lingo, Afrikaaps attempts to make light of daily life.This was a slave coping mechanism. ]
_______________
Let’s get set for yet another reset
Tiffs with each other riffs of what ifs
Definitely brother not your best bet
Wallow mounting mountain of debt
Follow internet fountain jet of regret
Caught in vaunted haunted silhouette
They tighten the net frighten bloodlet
Swallow your pride or with ease can forget
Beset our society on its knees under threat
But won’t get het up…so please don’t fret
Wild child.. don't the proverbial bed wet
Implore ignore being a bore.. the teacher’s pet
Or commuter the computer your tutor & suitor
Just be a looter and a future freebooter cadet
Don’t now vet all the people you’ve met
Vow over the small stuff you won't sweat
Don’t tease somehow have a tete a tete
Pleas to seize every day the appetite whet
Might not be a breeze but helluva wheeze
Cos tomorrow could be your best day yet!
Daars n ster wat op ons glinster
Gly n druppel aan die venter
Kyk die sproeiers op die lande
En voels is blomme van die hemel
Deur my dagboeke van goster blaai tor twintigste Desember
Lees dan tussen deur die lyne
Le nog stukkies van die tyding
Onthou jy nog die rede waarom jy moes weggaan
Waarom moes jy weggaan dan skuif n work daar voor die maan
Daars n Dennebos in Ceres waar ek wegkruip as dit seer is
As jy wandel deur die pyne
Wat was joune wat was myne
Ek was maar net n laaitie toe jy altyd weer moes weggaan
Teen die wolwe moes ek man staan
Ek probeer maar net verstaan
Daars n skoenlapper wat fluister
Ek verbeel my hy het kom luister
Die kokon wat jou so hinder
Jy verander in n vlinder
Well here we see that something is hot? About as real as
As the (tailpipe an e v's got?) The subject matter is what
You have got.' Either man or woman? Is what i consider?
And whether what is not.' Is what? And why are some termed non binary? Yet are So
Het up on genders.? All in all its such a mind bender! its
Like they want to drink alchol.' Yet be de-intoxicated as they
Do?
Seem absorbed by genders.? That should not be narrated?
By me or you' or any reality defenders.)
Is there anything above?about them; i have missed ?
Maybe they could have a catheter bladder to head
Orifice inserted; so they could vent better ( when feeling
Really pressed.?)
In die dieptes van duisternis vind ek my pad,
Met 'n seer hart probeer ek die pyn weghou,
Deur die prisma van bottels probeer ek ontsnap,
In die arms van alkohol kry my hartseer vorm.
Met elke sluk verdrink ek my stille krete,
Maar die gevoelloosheid wat dit meebring, is 'n wrede vermomming,
In die amber gif soek ek skuiling en verligting,
Tog bind dit my stywer vas, wat net hartseer veroorsaak.
Die bottel word my troosmiddel, my vriend,
'n Bittersoet toevlug waar my probleme saamsmelt,
Maar die oggendlig openbaar die koste,
Terwyl ek worstel met die gevegte wat ek verloor het.
It was our first date and I had to impress her
While fighting the urge to move in and caress her
I’d have to be subtle and somewhat refined
And show her an intellect dwells in my mind
It wouldn’t suffice to say, ‘Fancy some nosh?’
Took a taxi uptown somewhere awfully posh
I tipped the head waiter to get a good table
Kept up the decorum as best I was able
The vino was tasted and two glasses poured
She licked her top lip and my temperature soared
Her manicured nails browsed a pure vellum menu
And we ordered the very best dish of the venue
We chatted, I felt I was holding my own
For not even once did she check out her phone
Dinner was served, to hell with the cost
My eyes drank her in and I knew I was lost
But I fell in love when my date got het up
Oy Geezer, she bellowed, got any ketchup?
Sunlower and the Sun
She’s very loyal to his rays,
As he travels from east to west,
Her golden beam always faces
Where his brightest radiance exist.
Her beauty reflects het glory,
Her smile will never go astray,
As she follows him constantly,
From the mountain up to the bay.
Even he refuses to shine,
As the dark gray covers up high,
At a garden, her, we can find,
Patiently waiting for her “Hi!”
As she has faith of his coming
After a strong shower fountain,
When heaven will stop its crying,
The sky will be at peace again.
So the huge shining ball of gold
Will return to reign ever more,
At the blue, his grin will be bold,
He’ll reveal anew his splendor.
Then her petals will come to glow,
As she will hear her sweet “Hello!”
It won’t matter where wind may blow,
It’s only him, she will follow.
Daar is soveel dinge wat ek wou vra.
Soveel meer wat ek kon leer.
Maar nou is dit te laat.
Oupa het ons verlaat.
Oupa het ons gegroet
toe God vir oupa roep.
die briesie van herlewing kom saam met u besoek
daar is 'n hindernis van byna 500 jaar wat ons suiwerheid geskei het
in velkleur, godsdiens en verhoudings
ons is van wortels gekastreer en gevoer met
godsdienstige ywer, gierigheid,
en wrede verkragting van ons voorgeslag
vrees nie die seë wat God stilgemaak het nie
die wind het gedreun van gehuil
of die son kom nooit op vir rus nie
the breeze of revival comes with your visit
there's a barrier of almost 500 years that separated our purity
in skin tone, religion and relations
we've been castrated from roots and fed with
religious zealotry, greed,
and brutal rape of our ancestry
fear not the seas God stilled
the wind muffled from howling
or the sun never rising for rest
For a friend from CT
With each day being the same and the outlook looking bleak
She felt such self-blame that about it she could barely speak
For it was always there, playing over and over again in her mind
By feeling so bare, it was just simple peace she could not find
She tried many different things but each of them would fail
And the heartbreak that that brings with a psyche so frail
She was seeing no way out, no way to possibly change
When in the deepest of her dout she felt something strange
A sudden calmness came over her body a simple peace in her mind
Like some one had set her free breaking all those chains that bind
And as she continued looking at the Cross tears coming to her eyes
Completely at a loss in seeing the one thing she didn't realize
By looking in all the wrong places she hit all those dead ends
Which by His Mercies and Graces, Jesus had already made amends
In realizing came this relief as that whole burden just lifted away
Giving Jesus all het grief gave peace a chance to have a say
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled,
neither let them be afraid.”
John 14:27
Gee my jou hand
Iets om vas te hou
Gee my jou hart
Iets om lief te he
Gee my jou lippe
Iets om myne besig te hou
Gee my jou wange
Iets om te maak bloos
Gee my jou voorkop
Iets om te soen
Gee my jou hare
Iets on my hande besig te hou
Gee my jou oë
Iets om in te verdwaal
Gee my jou alles
Want dis wat jy vir my is
Hier is my arms
Iets om om jou te vou
Hier is my skouer
Iets om op te lê
Hier is my lewe
Iets om beter te maak
Hier is my liefde
Iets om meer te maak
Hier is my wêreld
Iets om lig te gee
Hier is my ore
Iets wat sal luister
Hier is my gedagtes
Iets om in rond te hardloop
Hier is my hart
Iets wat jy klaar gesteel het
Die reptiel vrou
Het my alweer geflous
Met my gedeel, haarself ontbloot,
en toe
Die bitter gif gespoeg
Dit vloei uit my bors uit, deur my are
Verander my bloed - haar bloed
Word swart, taai, en koud
Soos haar hart
***
The reptile woman
Has fooled me again
Shared with me, exposed herself
and then
Spat out the bitter venom
It flows out of my chest, through my veins
Changes my blood - her blood
Becomes black, sticky, and cold
Like her heart
After The Funeral
Tim had found his place after the party. Faring well in his urn he waited to be scattered. Compartmentalised, fragmented and united into two batches of memories.
Indian Ocean
Passionate love on beaches
Drift wood adventures
His friends and family celebrated his life. Lit a fire, gathered smoke and cherished what pastures had given them. Salutation, saltation and salt on sad skin. They rejoiced in ambivalent moments of loss and beginning. That was the easy bit. But Tim had always been eccentric and maybe the waves were too smooth on their own. Easy had not been his domain. Always up to challenges and arduous paths, het set a task even in death. ‘Go tell it on the mountain’.
Climb Mount Everest
Fresh air healthy exercise
Dust sprinkled on snow
Would his children rise up to the dare and defiance? Could they respect final wishes? Was it one step too far? Had it been jest and on whom was the joke? Strides upon strides they stumbled to the top of the world. Caressed their blisters and bridged ascent in meaning and closure.
Serene harmony
Stunning demise flying high
Carbon clouds condensed
Wie waak oor ons gans die wakkernag?
Vind sondes.lank vergete
n aanklag eggo in die gewete
Dalk net stank demone
Wat slaaploos toi-toi in talle drome
Watter wekker skrik sy meester kaal
Wyl hy rondtol.in n lakenhel?
Skape, pennies en sy woorde tel
Of plak gebede saam met drome vas
Teen blank plafonne en die linnekas?
En ook skimme wat eens mense was
n vingerskrif op die klagstaat straf
Ander sluimer niksbeduidend
Wereld werk nog steeds misleidend
Introspeksie hou het geen verband
Onwelkom het net ingekom
Soos infeksie in n agtertand
Prokureur teem onbeholpe
'k kort n advokaat
n leuenverklikker wat moet wèèt waarvan hy praat
Opgetof en opgetoga en n omkoopmagistraat
Sinies en insomnies
naghof ronddool in n doodloopstraat
Wie sake uitgooi maar dan skelm uitstel
Weereens more ons beroof van geld en slaap
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