embroidered on tshirts,
emblazoned across charitable institutions,
emblematic of today,
where capital mows down our collective past,
rendering wethepeople impotent, flaccid, limp,
mere buyers & consumers,
expanding market-reach,
our giddiness palpable,
waistlines expanding like the goodyear blimp,
our struggles on sale,
republished, hardbound,
cashing in,
on display,
buy the book, read the tale,
acceptable, sterile,
aromatically stale,
the revolutionary rebranded,
silver-haired & grandfatherly,
the grandad we all wished we had,
canonising nonviolence,
trumpeting the eternal rebel,
with cigar and beret,
photoshopping our ancestors,
diluting their struggles,
repackaged & consumer-friendly,
end-user accessibility,
simple, plug & play,
hard-work, initiative,
entrepreneurial-spirit,
experts spluttering on,
about how to make-it and make it big today,
welcome to the new theme park, they say,
rugby + mandela,
or baartman by beyoncé,
& oh yes, bring your family too,
cos’ some of our best friends/clients/employees etc. are _______________
( fill in where appropriate ),
there’s room for all to eat and drink and in the shade lay,
sipping cappuccinos under automated palms that oh-so-cutely sway,
fleeing kaffirs, hotnots, gardenboys, maidgirls, coolies, bushies, coloureds, darkies,
escaping monkeys on beaches far, far away,
that’s right,
buy one & get two for freemium today,
under the benevolent gaze of Madiba & MLK,
Biko & Tambo & Sisulu,
Fidel & Hani & Ché.
Scribbled Verse 