This is not Limpopo

This is not Limpopo

This is not Limpopo
WH Auden in ashes
amongst other books
out Elsenburg way

This is not Limpopo
a municipal hall burnt
inside almost beyond
human recognition

Crude obscenities
mark the walls
what beasts here
did 1994 come
and go too quickly

This is not Limpopo
smouldering rags
torn out pages of books
on the blackened floor
of a community resource

This is not Limpopo
though two worlds here
scenic slopes and dales
lodgings Dickensian
and work seasonal

(A pristine building
up yonder, on a hill
seemingly far away
comfortably numb)

This is not Limpopo
though a text book case
of something unfulfilled
a number of youngsters keen
despite all the odds against

Politicians not yet
kissing-baby election time
development planning
Uhuru not yet Elsenburg way

Out yonder in the not-so-picturesque rural quiet of Muldersvlei-Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, the week of August 14-16 2012.

(Photo of the Elsenburg Community Hall provided by the author.)