Archive for December, 2013
Greed is Good…
brands and little tender hands,
sewing and sweating,
in dinghy factories and in smoke-clogged stands.
Haute-couture and ostentatious labels,
black and blue whiskey on heaving sushi tables.
Greed is good,
it ‘enhances’ free-market competition,
as we blindly scamper from mall to mall,
devoid of a scintilla of compassionate vision.
Greed is good,
oh and it feeds,
on complicity,
apathy,
as we reap the rewards,
of the sowing of hypocritical seeds.
Greed is good,
yes it is,
as long as we can buy and buy and buy and buy,
and
as long as there’s gourmet coffee to be had,
and
as long as there are oysters we can lasciviously shuck,
ohhhh yessss,
greed is good,
so we sew our mouths shut,
as we frolic,
as we party,
and
as we fuck.
Greed is Good.
(title borrowed from Oliver Stone’s film ‘Wall Street’)
‘smile’, she said with a wink,
‘smile’.
I smiled.
‘kiss me’, she said, pulling me close to her cinnamon lips.
‘kiss me’.
I kissed her.
‘I’m happy’, she whispered, her warm breath in my ear.
‘I am whole’, I whispered to her,
and to myself.
‘I am whole’.
Hamba Kahle, Commander-in-Chief!
1.
Travel well, Commander, your long march is over,
Rest now, Commissar, you are with our departed comrades-in-arms.
2.
We shall not rest, Nelson Mandela!
We dare not rest,
we cannot rest,
we will not rest,
the struggle continues,
now,
today!
3.
Hamba Kahle, Commander-in-Chief,
your long walk is over,
rest now, Commissar, you are with our departed comrades-in-arms,
you are with us,
now,
today!
Hamba Kahle, Commander-in-Chief!
Hamba Kahle, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela!
Amandla!
Mayibuye-i-Afrika!
The People Shall Govern!
All National Groups Shall have Equal Rights!
The People Shall Share in the Country`s Wealth!
The Land Shall be Shared Among Those Who Work It!
All Shall be Equal Before the Law!
All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!
There Shall be Work and Security!
The Doors of Learning and Culture Shall be Opened!
There Shall be Houses, Security and Comfort!
There Shall be Peace and Friendship!
Viva the revolutionary spirit of Nelson Mandela!
Madiba.
( 1918 – 2013 )
Madiba, you are resting now.
Madiba, you have joined the ancestors.
Madiba, you are with your comrades.
Madiba, you are with us.
Madiba, you are within us.
Madiba, you live!
Madiba lives!
He lives!
He lives!
He lives…
For Madiba
(1918 – 2013)
And Just When I Felt Lost…
,,,again,
when i feared that you were slipping away
i feared more for myself, in truth I say, than for you.
again…
you came back to us
again…
your light shone, ablaze
reaching inside of me with the warmth of your dignity
with your infinite gentleness
with your effortless peace
with all that made you, you
again…
soothing me as you soothed a nation
and a people, and people everywhere
of every hue
and of every creed
and of the human spirit itself
again…
you gave of yourself
again…
you breathed my fears away
you embraced me as you have always done
again…
you made me cry
weeping tears of joy for you
for your light to shine on through
again…
you shined so brightly
as I basked in your warmth of you being you
again…
you cradled my shaken being in your hands, lined with age and with wisdom and with a pureness so bright
that just knowing that you were finally home, smiling that fatherly smile of yours
was enough for me, to slip into the waiting arms of this warm and joyous night
and again…
you came back to me on this night
and just knowing that you are with me
is enough now, for within me, you will reside forever more
just knowing that you are resting, finally
fills me with the biting grief of parting
and with the peace and the joy that has been your gift to me, and to us, one and all
shaking me to my very core
as you have selflessly done
throughout all our lives, and on countless occasions before
He is home!
You are home!
and
i am home with you
as your light of life continues to shine
now and forever
warm and dignified and forever true!
Viva Nelson Rolihlala ‘Madiba’ Mandela Viva!
For our Father, Nelson ‘Madiba’ Mandela
you are our eternal inspiration
our hopes
our dreams
our conscience
you gave everything of yourself
so that we may live and love and laugh and dream and breathe the air of freedom, dignity and liberty
you lead us through the darkest days with your unshakeable principles and your belief in us
you brought peace and freedom to us
and when at times we felt all was lost
you stayed with us as a father would
you lent us your wisdom
and you chastised us too
and we are here today because of you
you stayed with us, Nelson Rolihlala ‘Madiba’ Mandela, through all the crests and valleys of our turbulent times
you stayed with us, father
and today, we know,
that you, our father Madiba,
you live!
You live!
And you shall always live…
Vincent & Ludwig…
“Your ‘Sunflowers’ evokes the beauty of a sublime sonata to my deaf ears, my dear Vincent”,
“Ah! but you do hear! You hear the passions that torment my soul, my dear friend Ludwig”,
“And you paint in the colours of my dreams, Vincent, where I am alone in a field of sunflowers, as the moonlight caresses each tender stem”,
“Yes, Ludwig! Just as your ‘Moonlight Sonata’ moves me to tears, the tears that you see as delicate drops of dew on the sunflowers of your dreams”,
“Sunflowers bathed in soft moonlight”, smiles Ludwig,
“Oh yes, that same canvas of night that sways to the delicate touch of your music”, Vincent says with a wink.
Ludwig smiles again, as Vincent laughs a hearty laugh.
