art from google
for women everywhere
they said she was opinionated.
they castigated her for not following the norm.
they dismissed her for being “loud-mouthed”.
they spoke disparagingly of her for flouting cultural, religious, sectarian narrow-minded claptrap.
they damned her for unclipping her wings, as she soared free into the open skies.
she is you.
and may you always be you …
photograph from google
made of starstuff*, you and i, the random crossed paths of our orbits, reaching deeper into the quarks and gluons that bind us together, tiny strings, weaving a tapestry of oneness.
made of starstuff, you and i, intertwined synapses flowing through neural networks, somehow, in the ways of the cosmos, fusing these two beating hearts together.
made of starstuff, you and i, the unfathomable meeting of mind and soul, beyond the knowable, yet forging the knots, linking us in an unending entanglement of distilled love.
made of starstuff, you and i, the touch of our lips, the feel of our heartbeats, the brushing of our fingertips, remaining so inexplicably unquantifiable,
and felt,
so deeply immeasurable.
_______________
( * inspired by Dr. Carl Sagan and by Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson )
together, we have journeyed, through thickets of pain, under thrashing icy rain.
together, we have held on, to each other, believing in one another.
together, we walk on, our love the glue, binding us to that which is true:
without each other,
there is no me,
there is no you.
Comrade Chris Hani
( 28 June 1942 – assassinated 10 April 1993 )
Mowed down
by hot lead,
your blood flowed
into our African soil.
Murdered you, yes, they did.
Silence you, they never will,
for your voice,
your spirit,
speaks to us still!
______________
Solomon Mahlangu: My Blood will Nourish the Tree that will Bear the Fruits of Freedom:
Solomon Mahlangu was trained as an MK soldier with a view to later rejoining the struggle in the country.
He left South Africa after the Soweto Uprising of 1976 when he was 19 years old, and was later chosen to be part of an elite force to return to South Africa to carry out a mission commemorating the June 16th 1976 Soweto student uprising.
After entering South Africa through Swaziland and meeting his fellow comrades in Duduza, on the East Rand (east of Johannesburg), they were accosted by the police in Goch Street in Johannesburg.
In the ensuing gun battle two civilians were killed and two were injured, and Mahlangu and Motloung were captured while acting as decoys so that the other comrade could go and report to the MK leadership.
Motloung was brutally assaulted by the police to a point that he suffered brain damage and was unfit to stand trial, resulting in Mahlangu facing trial alone.
He was charged with two counts of murder and several charges under the Terrorism Act, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Though the judge accepted that Motloung was responsible for the killings, common purpose was argued and Mahlangu was found guilty on two counts of murder and other charges under the Terrorism Act.
On 15 June 1978 Solomon Mahlangu was refused leave to appeal his sentence by the Rand Supreme Court, and on 24 July 1978 he was refused again in the Bloemfontein Appeal Court.
Although various governments, the United Nations, International Organizations, groups and prominent individuals attempted to intercede on his behalf, Mahlangu awaited his execution in Pretoria Central Prison, and was hanged on 6 April 1979.
His hanging provoked international protest and condemnation of South Africa and Apartheid.
In fear of crowd reaction at the funeral the police decided to bury Mahlangu in Atteridgeville in Pretoria.
On 6 April 1993 he was re-interred at the Mamelodi Cemetery, where a plaque states his last words:
‘My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom.
Tell my people that I love them.
They must continue the fight.’
Mahlangu died for a cause!
Salute!
The Struggle Continues…
(special thanks to a friend who shared this tribute to Solomon Mahlangu)
_______________
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/solomon-kalushi-mahlangu
when you kissed me, our tongues waltzed in symphonic harmony, teasing the crescendos as we sipped ambrosia in our tango of passion.
when we made love, our bodies fused, in singular unison, the sweat mingled with the desire to soak in as much of the nectar of love.
when we walked, hand in hand, the powdery beach beneath our feet, we became one with nature, our love a testament to the unison of complete surrender.
when we spoke of times past, and tomorrows yet to dawn, we felt the tug of kindred spirits, so elusive until now.
when we gazed into each others eyes, we felt ourselves drowning in a maelstrom of unquenchable togetherness.
when we kissed again, and again, as we do now, we bask in the sunlight, of a love impossible to explain,
a love that weathered the seasons, the coming of autumn, through life’s pain, and through the slicing barrage of fate’s icy rain.
you stood tall.
shoulder to shoulder with your oppressed compatriots bludgeoned by the jackboot of Apartheid South Africa.
you stood tall.
shoulder to shoulder with your fellow interned comrades on that desolate rock, Robben Island.
you stood tall.
shoulder to shoulder with those who yearned for freedom, for the common decency of being treated as human beings.
you stood tall.
your principles of non-racialism steadfast as your commitment to the freedom and democracy you and your comrades dedicated your entire lives to achieve.
you stood tall.
in the face of the brutality of the Apartheid state, as they tried to break spirits that could not be shaken.
you stood tall.
for 27 long years, alongside your comrades Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Andrew Mlangeni, Denis Goldberg, and Elias Motsoaledi, Raymond Mhlaba.
you stood tall.
inspiring a generation to continue the struggle against Apartheid tyranny, your example burned bright in the hearts of those who yearned for, and fought for the freedom of South Africa.
you stood tall, comrade Ahmed Kathrada.
you stood tall, uncle Kathy.
you stood tall. and you shall stand tall.
you shall stand tall, for those of us you leave behind.
you shall always stand tall, for those yet to come.
you shall always stand tall.
Amandla!
The Struggle Continues!
Aluta Continua!
_________
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ahmed-kathrada
I am so pained to be reposting these poems. It seems like the so-called leaders and those who carry out wanton violence in the name of religion and caste, gender, land, wherever they may come from, are dragging our world further into the callous abyss of bloodletting. It cannot go on this way. It must not go on this way. It must not be allowed to go on this way. I am helplessly wishing for peace inspite of the orgy of violence and death that seems to have consumed this fragile planet we all call home.
a child of war…
as she lies bleeding,
the girl who skipped, hopped to school,
all of nine and a half years old,
with ribbons in her hair and a laugh that was her father’s pride.
as she lies bleeding,
shrapnel lodged in her torn stomach,
she stares at her skipping rope,
as her blood soaks it the colour of cherries her mummy buys.
as she lies bleeding,
she sees people all around thick black smoke,
blurred visions of scattering feet, shoes left behind,
hearing nothing but the pinging in her smashed eardrums.
as she lies bleeding,
she slips away and then she is dead,
a mangled heap of a nine and a half year old girl,
whose laugh was her father’s pride.
as she lies bleeding,
for even in death she bleeds some more,
shrapnel wedged in her torn stomach,
stealing the light from her bright little eyes.
as she lies bleeding …
in jallianwala bagh in ‘19,
leningrad in ‘42,
freetown in ‘98,
soweto in ‘76,
new york in ’01,
jenin in ‘02,
hanoi in ‘68,
beirut in ‘85,
raqqa, london,
basra, mosul,
yemen, paris,
now.
as she lies bleeding,
a little nine and a half year old girl,
whose laugh was her parent’s pride,
we know she’ll bleed more,
tomorrow and in many tomorrows yet unborn,
with shrapnel in her stomach,
ripped open and torn.
as she lies bleeding …
Scribbled Verse 
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