Shantytowns Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

Safely Isolated Society

Behind barbed-wire fences
Of security-estate isolation
The rich and the poor
Divided the nation

The lines were drawn
The cartoons were sketched
As luxurious green lawns
In shantytowns far-fetched

As the echoes of jazz
From Sophiatown
Faded razzmatazz
As we descended down

Where Rabbi and Imam, too
Tipped their hat in greeting
The moments of Ubuntu
Was there but so fleeting

A moment forgotten
As District Six was razed
Then rain mud sodden
As cattle anxiously grazed

How we danced and sang
How we felt the heartbeat of Africa
Drums beat and trumpets sang
Down, going down in Africa

The past echoes in our tears
As the soul was ripped from our ears
The beats fade as we stare
At our barbed wire, our living snare

Here we sit, in safety, in silence
Whilst we believe, we believe
That outside the world is rubble, violence
Ah, we were deceived, as we deceive

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