Soweto babies are born in graves
Scorned and brave and mourned and shamed
I bleed these words honestly
We are,
in varying degrees what we are made to be
Black pride is rubble
It’s all a muddle
Now that hate is subtle
Welfare, workfare, and love don’t solve what dying might
Dynamite is the Average Black’s relation to hope
We forget what it means to succeed
Trapped
We resent responsibility for our broken bones
Black broken homes reduced to case studies
Like Sophiatown
The rubble, trapped in pages and tears
Or under speculation
Or the falsehood of reconciliation
Just look at history, his story
Just over there dissembling bits of Black pride
And smashing the pieces
Smashing to pieces peace and calm
Black pain is forbidden
Nightmares and politics invalidated
Trapped under vicarious ramblings,
Ruins of old, neglected buildings, social rhetoric,
Thoughtless discourses, uneven resources, bias’ sources,
Crumbling bricks and X.
X marks the spot
The demolition site is nothing to behold.
Whilst sticks and stones can break my bones
Words can also harm me
Hold up, wait, I said,
Ships and drones can break your homes
And legislation can also f*ck me
Anthropology and geopolitics collapse heavy on me like 9/11 towers
Terror!
Study it, stress, and rebuke
I study her story and our story as much as his story
iStory sabo angis’bhayi, amanga lawa
All knowledge is formed in a political context for power
Kusal’ abanye ngaphandle Joe
Hopes torn down like Lwandle homes
What will we say to Diepsloot kids:
Dream big; or dreams dig
Holes of disappointment and wishful thinking
The socioeconomics of being Black bestow upon one doubts to cast
And disrupt hope like Bree bomb blasts
Or they huff, puf,f and blow your house down
We resent responsibility for our broken bones
And the ensuing instructions to run and not complain
I bleed these words honestly
Ships, drones, broken homes
Tip toes, unspoken moans
Black
Our vexations were feet chained and locked in TRC
But “we are free”
Soweto’s babies are born in graves
And scorned and brave and mourned and maimed.
