Home › poem

poem

poem

  • Im No Lady (Im All Woman)

    Im no lady
    Im all woman
    Gaye Davis jests
    on SAFMs The Editors
    (all women on the show)

    Im no lady
    Im all woman
    responding to the
    3 ladies on the show
    (a man-made observation)

    (He does the mumbo-jumbo
    by saying he is blessed
    having these women
    on his morning show)

    Im no lady
    Im all woman
    if you can tell
    the big difference
    (sans any gender testing)

    Im no lady
    Im all woman
    as we go along

  • Running Away (Down Vilakazi Street)

    Running away
    down Vilakazi Street
    on morning television
    a Sunday morning
    African-time start

    Running away
    down Vilakazi Street
    no crime committed
    no child abused so far
    as we all can see

    Running away
    down Vilakazi Street
    green scenery all round
    streets squeaky-clean just
    for this particular occasion

    Running away
    down Vilakazi Street
    and other landmarks
    (like M. Isaacson High)
    post-apartheid June 1976

    Running away

  • Our Misspent Youth

    Our misspent youth
    as legend has it
    wild oats sowed
    (liberation before)

    Our misspent youth
    obliged
    to listen
    when
    we speak

    We
    who might be
    the
    threat of a good example
    a
    gangster besuited
    like
    a politrickian or is it
    the
    other way round

    Our misspent youth
    the now-defunct Youth Commission
    to the tune of R4.2 million
    says the Auditor-Generals report

    A newspaper article

  • Send Me (To Work)

    Send me
    to work
    where there is
    a lack of
    staff and resources

    Such is a suggestion
    from the Human Rights
    in African Prisons seminar
    (Jails dont heal, they harm)

    Send me
    to work
    computer literate
    (a piece of paper
    to prove it thus)

    Send me
    before I myself
    commit a petty offence
    and congest
    our overfull prisons

    Send me
    to work
    before I make
    a taxpayer or two
    pay my board and lodging

  • Send Me (To Work)

    Send me
    to work
    where there is
    a lack of
    staff and resources

    Such is a suggestion
    from the Human Rights
    in African Prisons seminar
    (Jails dont heal, they harm)

    Send me
    to work
    computer literate
    (a piece of paper
    to prove it thus)

    Send me
    before I myself
    commit a petty offence
    and congest
    our overfull prisons

    Send me
    to work
    before I make
    a taxpayer or two
    pay my board and lodging

  • Connectivity Is Everything

    Connectivity is everything
    the one that is world-wide
    the web of intrigue
    (weaved by those
    with stuff to hide)

    Connectivity is everything
    like the hired gun
    caught in between
    his own crossfire
    (and it is usually a he)

    Connectivity is everything
    some folk you know
    (nudge nudge wink wink)
    who can get things done
    because they know others

    Connectivity is everything
    as you can now see
    from whoever is on trial
    fingering everyone else

    Author(s): 
    David Kapp

  • Not That We Scoff

    Not that we scoff
    at the lesser spenders
    in the Cape Colony
    says a talking head

    Not that we scoff
    as the mugger city wins
    another tourism award

    (And we saw the launch
    of Human Trafficking
    Awareness Week and
    the month of Red October)

    Not that we scoff
    it all counts
    it all adds up
    for the local economy

    Not that we scoff
    at the informal end
    our second economy
    (each according to ability)

    Like Nomsa Mazwais lower

    Author(s): 
    David Kapp

  • It Sounds Like A Song

    It sounds like a song
    says the radio presenter
    on SAFM morning radio
    (Womens Month now done)

    It sounds like a song
    Athletics SA President
    talking himself out
    of the square circle
    he painted himself into

    It sounds like a song
    in defense of his lie
    no knowledge he says
    of any gender-testing

    It sounds like a song
    I did it for you
    I did it for my country
    (I also did it my way)

    It sounds like a song
    perhaps his swansong

  • Wonderful

    Wonderful
    waxes the male presenter
    of SAFMs The Editors
    an all-female panel he has
    (Womens Month now spent)

    Wonderful
    no longer the flavour
    of the month
    we are done with it
    our Womens Month

    Wonderful
    all ladies (exclaims he)
    not ladies of the night
    whatever that means
    to you out on the street

    Wonderful
    post- our Womens Month
    the morning after if you like
    after the fact its back
    to our old usual ways

    Wonderful

    Author(s): 
    David Kapp

  • I Dont Want to Think (Evil Thoughts)

    I dont want to think evil thoughts
    (I say to a Metro ticket examiner)
    of the next person who is human
    after all (and even humane)

    I dont want to think evil thoughts
    since I did my civic duty reporting
    my streets and others lights
    burning
    for over 3 weeks now daily and nightly

    I dont want to think evil thoughts
    of the besuited state employee
    driving a Delft Visible Policing car
    visibly not policing outside
    a place folk on occasion patronize