HULLE SÊ...

hulle sê

ek is mal
hulle praat baie

ma' hulle
sê niks.

i am not

well adjusted

my faith

is not entrusted

to some social structure

designed to keep me

in my place.

i am not

apathetically idle,

only happy

to be sad

and powerless

a pawn, a victim

of happenchance

or circumstance.

hulle sê

ek is befok

but ek is

just

mal-adjusted

my belief

is vested in the many

truths i see.

expressed in our actions

or more likely

our inaction

content with discontent

turning a blind eye

convinced of the lie

enslaved

in our minds.

hulle bly sê

ek is nog altyd mal

ma’ hulle stemme is dof

net so

‘s hulle gedagtes

vol bedrog

ma’ tog bly
hulle sê niks.

NO NEED TO WONDER

I often wonder

What it is that you see

As you look out

Through the double-glazed veneer

Of your privileged arrogance

And the insolence of entitlement

That frames your perception.

I often wonder

Who it is that you see

When you look

At someone like me

Proud and comfortable

In my skin

Of earth-tones and darkness.

Do you ever wonder

About a mind and a soul

Or a whole being beyond

The limits of all

You think you know

And the places you go

To get away from what surrounds you.

Do you ever wonder

About your complicity

In maintaining this status quo

And the inherent violence

That sustains this inequality

And the ingrained injustice

That you so conveniently ignore.

I sometimes wonder

About what it all means

Whether the purchased education

And material success

Has any substance

If it serves only to enhance the distance

Between your view and what is true.

But mostly there is

No need to wonder

The cause and effects

Blatantly apparent

The callousness abhorrent

The outlook remains myopic

This democracy is despotic.