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Two poems by Vera Mihailovich-Dickman

City Buzz

+++++++++++Johannesburg

Becoming a truly African city –
++++++which it has been, but not for all
++++++and perhaps not African in the eyes of many
++++++++++++not African in lifestyle, even if in Africa

+++++++++++Johannesburg

Bursting with curiosity, the urge to discover
++++++what it doesn’t yet know
the urge to be on a par
with Lagos, Dar es Salam, Addis Ababa
++++++not really Cairo but perhaps Casablanca
++++++Jozi-Alex-Soweto – beyond Casablanca!

+++++++++++Johannesburg

A destiny quite distinct from that of Cape Town
++++++more urgent
++++++taking more risks
++++++steppin’ out
++++++daring to show and share
++++++über-urban

+++++++++++Contradictory

+++++++++++Johannesburg

Do I have to betray my father to love you?
+++Or are there no betrayals in love?
Perhaps he loved you just as much
++++++Without knowing you as I do

Under the Southern Cross
4th Sept 2016, BA flight JHB-London

I leave
by crescent moon
lights below reflecting the high life
while absence of light may reflect the low life

The country is almost 22
a youth
attempting to find its way

Within it
++++++ those who have had it all (despite exceptions)
++++++ those still dreaming
those who can participate in the dialogue:
the artists
the business people
the entrepreneurs
the office holders
the workers
the students
the teachers

There is a desire to live in a new, changed country

There is mistrust of the time it takes

I come from the Old Guard
the Protected
my father thought that change would be for foreign power
an invasion he would fight

Yet I feel hope
I feel proud

There are Voices

I would like to be one of them.