Go home and die
(For those who died because of the holocaust
Of the AIDS denialism of Thabo Mbeki)
'Nobody knows you when you're down and out
...as for friends, you don't have any'
From a blues standard by Jimmy Cox
You saw them cover up for their cronies
Who should have hanged for the gross
Misconduct of causing the deaths of ten
Thousand innocent miners and a political
Solution was concoted to silence their widows
So you decide to hit the road to sat foot at a mine
And you take one last furtive glance at them
Who are imprisoned in the mines and fear
To go to the township because the place is full
Of tricksters and tsotsis of no particular origin
And you see the women who sell AIDS and quick sex
Under the trees and you want to live in a hurry
And you look at the boys who prostitute themselves
Without shame to the mabalanes and your heart sinks
And you notice that the men have not been paid
And the tenderpreneurs have looted the mines and
There's a heavy load on your conscience you weep
And you hit that there road and you go home to die
And you're in the township of the people's miseries
And you see that the ruling black clique have continued
Where their white masters left off and you realize
That reconciliation without social justice is brutal lie
Sold as a miracle to the gullible public to keep
The poor and the unsuspecting in perpetual subjugation
And you cry and you go home and you die
And then you're in the street where your childhood
Sweetheart was born and you remember that you wanted to marry
Her so much in love were you but you were poor and
She dished you for a hustler and you took the nunchakus
And you wanted to kill him and your former teachers
In this world that has no heroes are still calling you
A silent criminal and you go home and die
You're alone in the dongas that are supposed to be streets
The erstwhile country bumpkins these every Jim comes to
Joburg one of the who fled the tyranny of the tractor
On the farm stare at you and they want to start a rao rao
With you and you cry for their impure souls
And you trudge on homeward to cry to die
You beam with joy when you meet your old mates
[...] Read more
poem by Ngaka Motaung
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
