Die vuur op vygieskraal
Tanya Booysen
my mooi pop is weg
in die brand
net die hare bly oor
in die sand
ek was te haastig veroggend op skool toe
en het nie my gewoone goodbye gese nie
my pop is net soe oud soos ek
“n present van my oorlede ouma
eenvoudige
goedkoop
plastieke
speelding
ek gaan jou mis.
The shop
Shandre Cupido
My mom works at a fishshop in claremont
i go there after school with my sister sometimes
and i see how hard she works
with sweat pouring from her face amongst the heat and the oil
sometimes during her break
we will go walking in claremontgardens
sit on the benches
and throw chips for the pigeons
and we will hug each other
then she goes back to the heat and oil
Die klein begin
Kevin Dyssel
Elke Sondag na kerk gaan my ma en ek
my oudste broer in Polsmoor besoek
ek is baie lief vir my broer
en is baie excited om hom te sien
dan kanons lekker oor die rugby praat
en will hom van die goeie nuus vertel
dat ons a brief gekry het
ons gaan a huis in die Delft kry
hy gaan so bly wees
ons eerste huis
ek kannie wag nie
A view of Delft (written during the battle for Symphony way 2008)
(From my classroom window 2nd floor, 3rd period)
Andre Marais
dense black smoke ladders
to the sky from a distance
remnants of a battle scene close by
as the city bares its teeth
declares war on the poor
implements the letter of yet another court order
from faraway Cape town
against those who dared to be audacious
who will not wait “their turn”
who dare to bite the hand that feeds them
refusing to fit the role of the ‘deserving poor’
rainbow nation ubuntu is on a roll here
as police kick open makeshift doors
to half incomplete matchbox houses
wrestle down frail malnutrioned women
as pregnant teenage girls
give birth on the pavement
fist clenched
climbing to sun
openly declaring their determination to fight back
while pensioners die in the sand
the careless machismo of the official reportage about hysterical women
misses the malignant lump
when party politics goes recruiting in Deftland