A tinted rainbow smeared with blood
On its surface lies the bodies of youth devoured by guns
Guns aimed at them by the same people who were meant to protect them
46 years later we are still fighting the same battle as the class of 76
But now the narrative has changed
Instead of fighting against being taught in a language we don’t understand
The fight is against fees and black on black oppression
Please forgive mama that they didn’t tell you when you were voting in 1994 that you were voting for your grandkids and great grandkids to be unemployed
Please forgive me sir that they didn’t tell you ukuthi you were voting for your kids to be working at a carwash with a Masters degree
I am sorry that they didn’t tell you, you were voting for black-on-black oppression
Hunger walks barefoot through the streets,
while ministers gorge on stolen meats.
Children suck silence instead of bread,
their futures pawned, their dreams half-dead.
The unemployed queue in endless chains,
their sweat dismissed, their labour drained.
Degrees rot in forgotten drawers,
while power laughs behind locked doors.
Corruption fattens on every deal,
their pockets swelling, ours to steal.
Contracts vanish, truth is sold,
justice buried beneath their gold.
They dine in palaces, sip red wine,
while bodies starve in broken lines.
The country bleeds, yet they parade,
in suits stitched tight from what we paid.
And still they preach of brighter days,
while tearing hope in clever ways.
We see their lies, we hear their song
but hungry voices will rise strong.
We shall rise to fight for our future,
and shadows sharpen into light.
The feast of the few will come undone—
the starving many will be one.
One country for all - equal rights!
Leaders will become servant while followers walk with prestige and honour flying my country flag.
We truly believed things would change
after years of sweat and sacrifice
planting seeds in borrowed soil
watering them with pieces of our youth.
Day after day, we sat in rooms
learning how to nod and pretend
studying to lead, to build
to heal nations with thought and pen.
Month after month, we challenged our minds
told ourselves we were shaping futures
learning to analyze the world
while slowly unraveling our own.
But no one warned us
some seeds don’t bloom in this system.
They lie untouched beneath polished shoes
as we wander office to office
resumes soaked in sweat and regrets
chasing hope down corridors
that echo with the same reply:
“We’ll get back to you.”
Poetry Soup cleared the darkening clouds
Over the anxiety that
Embraced the plague of my thoughts.
Truly, thankful to have searched, found and
Read about this form of poetic content.
Your welcoming, passionate, most provoking
Share of inspirational, somewhat intimidating
Outcomes determined by rules regulated by
Ultimate premium members ~
Pleasure is all mine.
~God bless you all~
09 August 2022
'POETRY SOUP BEYOND ITS NAME'
Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Beata Agustin
There was a young woman who stayed persistently unemployed
Not having a job, or any work, made her feel overjoyed
Drawing her fine government check
To complainers, said “What the heck!”
Which made those working around her considerably annoyed.
May 27, 2021
I left a job that I had much enjoyed
To take a new position with a firm
That promised me that I would be employed
With higher pay and bonuses each term.
The job required traveling to meet
With clients and give technical support
For product updates; visits I’d repeat
Each quarter and then turn in my report.
Since Covid I have done this on my phone,
Which worked so well that now they’ve said to me
That I’m laid off—that some much cheaper drone
Can do my job from Washington, D.C.
I’m down, of course, but could this somehow be
A door to some new opportunity?
Out of the job, looking for work,
Will do whatever needs to be done,
Have been the words I’ve said every day,
Ever since my redundance begun,
But all of the work is applied for online,
With pages and pages of files,
Where every small detail of my meagre life,
Is somehow what the job here requires,
From my lifestyle, my likes, and the name of my dog,
To what sort of food do I eat,
To what sort of team do I follow in sport,
And what brand do I wear on my feet,
But the most frustrating data looked at the most,
Why my submission’s withdrawn,
Is the bit under my name for each online form,
That states the date I was born.
Iam the one completed my graduation
Joined in unemployment youth
Now staying alone
Day and day everyday..!
Now and still searching for a job
Pass and faill return test’s
Facing face to face interviews
Day and everyday fighting with me
For the mission
After the graduation I think I will live like free bird
It’s wrong and wrong and purely wrong
Every imagination not become real
Empty pockets not have value
The real value have only one thing
Money and money and money
Yet somehow I will be crazy
Hopeful on brain full to win something...!
Working days are hell
Holidays are hard to pass
For the unemployed
Good MORNING CITIZENS
Welcome to the employment lounge
Have a pleasant day.
Step up state your claim
Please speak clearly
Move to the side
Step up state your claim
WHAT'S YOUR FAME?
Step up state your claim
What's your FLAME?
CHECK YOUR FLICKER?
YOU'RE in the GAME.
GOod morning Ms. Let me
Have your slip.
What's Your VARIATION
Difference in OCCUPATION?
Off to the right against the
Wall, we have COFFEE
and other refreshments
For Your enjoyment.
Now, let's be PEACEFUL
and continue on.
Number 77
Hello state your CLAIM
What's your NAME?
How's Your pain?
Please be patient.
At the end of the middle aisle
There'll be a woman there with a smile.
She has pain meds for you.
The CLERK tells security she's
COOL let her through.
ATTENTION. ATTENTION.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT LOUNGE Will
Be closing in 10 minutes.
For those who must return
TOMORROW please do so at
11a.m. NOW PLEASE BE
PEACEFUL and step to the EXIT.
YOUR COOPERATION IS GREATLY
APPRECIATED.
ENJOY YOUR DAY!
UNEMPLOYMENT....
All we hear about is unemployment,
Appears to be a global torment,
Couldn't we think of creative solutions,
New inventions, using less pollution?
New ideas, concepts for the plebs to need,
What can we invent today? Yes indeed!
We could start by teaching global literacy,
Imagine how many books we'd need!
What about one holistic food capsule,
Made in Australia, daily and healthful?
Then we could grow forests and sell trees,
The world does need oxygen to breathe!
We could sell the world books and food pills,
Get your own ideas, we're not such dills,
Let's hear this motto in our schools,
What can we invent today? Beautiful!
Folks lose their job
Now some sob for
No job- no cash!
Dorian Petersen Potter
Aka ladydp2000
Copyright@2014
10.16.14
How dare this notion
Bury with green the last roots
And piss off a rose!
It's my fifth day of unemployment
and I'm going a little bit crazy.
I'd expected to sit around and relax
and in general behave quite lazy.
Day one, I made a scrapbook
and rearranged all my craft totes.
Day two I cleaned out bird cages
and started writing pre-Christmas notes.
Shopping is done and put away.
Outside Christmas lights are shining.
I fear I'm running out of projects
and for my job I am pining.
A second scrapbook has been started,
a nine hundred page book's nearly read.
I've not even made it through week one
so the next five weeks I now dread.
I vowed I'd wait 'til the new year
before looking for another career.
Six weeks off seemed reasonable, at the time,
but my resolve is failing I fear.
These little projects keep me busy.
They keep my mind occupied for awhile.
If I tell you I'm enjoying this holiday,
well now you know , I'm just in denial.
The soul aches
numbs the brain
images float away of women
crying, laughing, ironing sheets
thinking about jobs and sex
finding work
cooking cheap spaghetti
Playing with malnourished children
recovering from trauma, turmoil
turbulence, schizophrenia
from wombing life
g
i
V
i
N
g
garlands with O P E N hands
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