I do the I

October 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I do the I

I do the I
all Rasta-shirted
out Hanover Park-way

Out where, folks say,
bullets fly and all
is seen as doom and gloom

I do the I
as folks pass
and salute
Rasta-style, BC-style

(though there are
few Bikos and Sobukwes
to return the gesture)

I do the I
not the I which is
back in favour not just
up ivory-tower-way

I do the I
on my way
to the CASE launch
of their Training Manuals

I do the I
children are in school
reading and writing
out Hanover Park-way

(the power off
but no doom and gloom
only a service provider
so-called, failing us)

I do the I

Taking my I-cue from a passing driver giving me the clenched fist salute, me en route to the CASE Training Manuals Breakfast Launch (www.case.za.org, admin@case.za.org). Morgensen Primary’s principal, Mr EA Petersen’s “Yes, Hanover Park has problems, but it’s not all doom and gloom” (Cape Times, Sept 29 2011) encouraging me along my way.

 

(Photo Credit: RastaClothing)

 

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We two too

March 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

 

We two too

We two too
would have been
out Blomvlei Primary way
had we remembered
to be

We two too
Lansdowne librarian Ian Gordon
and left-handed I, David Kapp

We two too
support the cause
of Equal Education’s
Campaign for School Libraries

1 school 1 library
less than 1%
of the education budget
is all it would take

less than 1%
of the education budget
for a library in every school
in the country (over 10 years)

We two too
then read about
your home from home
(out Hanover Park way)
where you will grow
after the school day

We two too
the two of us
we too
forgot

How many more
have forgotten
(or not yet discovered)
the joy of books
and libraries too

Quite mortified am I, at our forgetfulness, reminded by the Cape Times article “Equal Education opens another library” (CT, February 28 2011) of the grand event.

 

(Photo Credit: Equal Education)

 

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Blacken our name

December 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Gugulethu

Blacken our name

Blacken our name
with your doom and gloom
whether you be a visitor
from abroad or a local
from a village fenced-in

Blacken our name
darken our doorstep
with tales of murder
and mayhem too

Blacken our name
call us the black sheep
of the developing world
out in darkest Africa

Blacken our name
legendary publicist
(you are said to be)
amid the infamous

Blacken our name
spin-doctoring away
in your own image
for your clientele

Blacken our name
it is business as usual
for those who put up
with daily abuses
tourists or no tourists

Blacken our name
all our Gugulethus
all our Hanover Parks
all our Manenbergs
and our Khayelitshas too

Your business is as usual
as is the convenient truth
of our living out here

“Accused hired sultan of spin” we are told, in the aftermath of accusations that husband-honeymooner Shrien Dewani paid for his wife to be murdered (Argus, Wed, Dec 8 2010).

 

(Photo Credit: Carin Smuts Studio)

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