Gert Strydom, 16 july 2014
Who killed six million Jews,
during the second word war?
in the books you will find
the name of Herr Adolf Hitler,
but was that man alone? To where
did his many helpers disappear?
Who killed millions of Russians,
put them in penal camps in icy Siberia,
you will say that it’s Joseph Stalin, for sure
but how can a single man do such a thing?
Who dropped two atomic bombs
on cities in Japan? You will say
the United States Air Force did
to preserve the armed men
fighting for a just cause,
but the man that ordered it,
Harry S Truman is innocent, and those who
build those bombs?
And then a man sends his military forces
into the Middle East
to stop weapons of mass destruction
to explode on the civilized world,
or so it was claimed
and innocent men, women and children
pay the price
and to the rest of the world it’s quite clear
that oil reserves was the driving force
and who can believe
that American President anyway?
Did he not say: “Read my lips?”
[Note: This poem is not aimed as a assault on the United States of America. It just illustrates how people are in the power of the leaders of political systems.]
Gert Strydom, 16 july 2014
(in answer to Gabeba Baderoon)
I have not been able
to learn to love failure,
and see no truth, find no fulfilment
in almost having, almost succeeding
and keep on trying
until I have success at last
and the wild black-and-white housecat
arches up its back and purrs loving
at my stroking hand reaching out
turns into the most adoring pet
and the pecking black-collard barbet
at the window
is framed clear
where it’s eyeing me
becomes part of the aperture,
becomes part of my life,
becomes my early morning wakeup call.
Gert Strydom, 16 july 2014
Cuddly you lay against me in a deep sleep
with curls falling over you lovely face
where for moments I admire your beauty
and my whole world goes back into balance
when you turn around and take my hand
and deep passion makes you intimately shaking
while far away in the distance a single sheep bleats.
Satish Verma, 16 july 2014
That grave alchemy
of cold fusion,
of turning mercury into gold,
makes me undone
in a fit of anger.
Punished before the crime committed,
of saying no for yes,
of disobedience in the face of a command,
I am becoming a beggar again.
The land of gold dust
evokes a disquieting sadness.
Smell of hunger and blood, takes
me to concrete nothings,
collects the emptiness from the wrinkled eyes.
The lake-salt, dry loaves and onions for a quiet dinner.
Fear in absence,
starts a fear of future,
the sound of unblinking darkness whispering.
Satish Verma
Gert Strydom, 15 july 2014
Do not tell me
the properties of love
as I want it just like it is
and do not tell me the physiological aspects of it
as I do see the glance in your eyes,
do know how deep your feelings are
and know each kind of way that you look at me,
know the deepest meaning and secrets
and that you have a soft and beautiful heart,
can be cheeky and impudent
or at times can cry or laugh with joy
and only do fear God
and I have lost my heart to you
and will never regret it.
Gert Strydom, 15 july 2014
Do net tell me in the finest detail
out of what love does exist
or go into the chemical properties of it
as I do not want it different
and when at night you lay spooned against me
I do not have to understand love better.
Do net tell me in the finest detail
out of what love does exist
or lay something on that which is between us
as every day go on its course
and I let you do the things that you want to
while I want to spend my life with you.
Do net tell me in the finest detail
out of what love does exist
Gert Strydom, 15 july 2014
Do net tell me in the finest detail
out of what love does exist
or go into the chemical properties of it
as I do not want it different
and when at night you lay spooned against me
I do not have to understand love better.
Do net tell me in the finest detail
out of what love does exist
or lay something on that which is between us
as every day go on its course
and I let you do the things that you want to
while I want to spend my life with you.
Do net tell me in the finest detail
out of what love does exist
Satish Verma, 15 july 2014
The reverse gravity pulls me
into timelessness,
holds me to become free from tremors.
The truth of zero morality
hurts.
I am pathless, secular,
godless.
The blank paper decides, how the fingers
will move. The uniform
has a secret rendezvous
with golds.
There was a dark zone,
the chimney, the indifferent smoke
curling upward.
The torch fails.
At the center of the conflict
rises a desert boom, instead of roses.
Non-violence, a forgotten word. A group
of shaven heads mourns. Royalty does not
want to leave the palace. The bodies of
slain innocents –
are placed collectively on a huge pyre!
Satish Verma
Gert Strydom, 14 july 2014
Now you are just a bunch of skeletons
where you are only stripped canes
that point like fingers into the air
as if seeking you can find something
out of the cobalt blue above you.
Your branches are still straight
and do not twist into each other
when the icy-cold August winds
do jerk you to and thro
blowing dust
and dead grass against you.
Still when spring does come
all of your branches will be covered in leaves
when it seems as if new life rushes through you
and the summer wind comes rustling.
Gert Strydom, 14 july 2014
When I did loose my heart to you,
you did bring a change to my life
and to other people it was but insignificant
but every day it made me glad
and when I did hear your cheerful voice
my heart sang with joy.
When I did loose my heart to you,
you did bring a change to my life
and still you are enchanting me continually,
you are involved in everything that I do
and for you I want to help where I can
as my life do overflow with love for you.
When I did loose my heart to you,
you did bring a change to my life.
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