Gert Strydom, 22 march 2013
At a time I was caught
in the glare of your eyes, in their bright glance
was aware of the dimple on your cheek
and my fingers did knot through your hair.
At a time weavers did sing,
ibises did slap their wings protesting
with their unexpected flying up
and suddenly your were apprehensive
and the zinc wing of the windmill turned around and around
while minutes stretched out like hours between us
when cool water came from the depths of the earth
and we drank some before I pulled you into my arms
and then you did suddenly smile
and that day changed to the most beautiful I had known.
Gert Strydom, 20 march 2013
A covering darkness of blanket blackness
with loneliness and no feelings to express
while rain sieves down for days without end;
in this winter it’s as if my life is spent.
The nights are chilly with an icy wind
searching for something that it cannot find,
as if the presence of death still is recent;
in this winter it’s as if my life is spent.
Gert Strydom, 20 march 2013
With all of the dark painful urges
you do come as my greatest longing
while we are cut-off by misunderstandings
in the twisting walls of a labyrinth
and it’s as if doors are continually slamming in my face,
as if time and again you want to walk out of my life
and sometimes I do search earnestly for liberation
out of this continuous imprisonment
and our feelings so intense and intimate
force my life and heart back to you
and I have got to deviate from a healthy balance,
again do start with my misconceptions and wandering
and without an end I do love you.
Gert Strydom, 20 march 2013
I have experienced seasons passing,
heard shells whistle, rockets soar and bullets sing
saw people perish, felt the icy winter chill
was in a war forced to shoot to kill
and at times life drags on so very slow,
at times myself I did not anymore know
but still I trusted God through everything,
trusted your love like an awakening spring.
Gert Strydom, 19 march 2013
The moon rose like a pirate
with one bloody eye
and far away in the sky
a star shell glittered the light of day.
Like ghosts with only minute lights burning
our armoured cars crept
into the death dark night
until someone spotted a enemy tank
and then some more
and gun after gun flashed alive
sending their messengers
into the dark.
Gert Strydom, 19 march 2013
He came from a fissure
in the brick wall,
a small creature
with a open mouth
and forked tongue,
moving its eyelids
and scales gleaming
in the early morning air.
His blue head caught my eye
where he laid in the sun
as if trying to catch the first
hot rays
and when I grabbed for him
I was left
with the twisting tail in my hand
and the rock-lizard disappeared
back from where he came.
Gert Strydom, 19 march 2013
(after Philip Arthur Larkin)
Through the window
I look at the blue sky
stretching out from horizon to horizon
and totally amazing the bright blue
seems to me
and yet a limit is set to it
but as night comes
the darkness stretches out
as if into infinity into space
past the shining lights, of stars,
galaxies and the known universe
into the unknown
and I wonder if anyone
would ever find an end to it?
[Reference: High Windows by Philip Arthur Larkin.]
Gert Strydom, 18 march 2013
(after Philip Larkin)
Enthroned in their stone effigy
with dogs at their feet
hands clasped together forever
bounded by rock
their Latin names almost indistinct
and yet alone in their solitude
they watch each other
in a kind of sweet peace
as if having rest at last
and still they are dead
a long gone earl and his countess
of a different time and age.
The words almost undecipherable
but still having a own significance
of two people beloved, serene
looking at each other with sincerity
with him clasping his empty gauntlet
in his covered hand,
and his bare hand holding hers and just maybe
the epitaph should be:
love conquers all,
even death and war.
[Reference: An Arundel Tomb by Philip Larkin.]
Gert Strydom, 18 march 2013
(after Philip Larkin)
Enthroned in their stone effigy
with dogs at their feet
hands clasped together forever
bounded by rock
their Latin names almost indistinct
and yet alone in their solitude
they watch each other
in a kind of sweet peace
as if having rest at last
and still they are dead
a long gone earl and his countess
of a different time and age.
The words almost undecipherable
but still having a own significance
of two people beloved, serene
looking at each other with sincerity
with him clasping his empty gauntlet
in his covered hand,
and his bare hand holding hers and just maybe
the epitaph should be:
love conquers all,
even death and war.
[Reference: An Arundel Tomb by Philip Larkin.]
Gert Strydom, 18 march 2013
Children carry cellular phones and pistols,
chop others dead with swords,
are bladed by barbarians,
kill people of a different colour
with axes and hammers.
Johnny and Sally grows up with
Thabo and Thandi
and are taught by the education system,
as are their parents,
and are indoctrinated
and have to believe:
that both heterosexual and bisexual
relationships are acceptable
that Chrisna, Allah, Buddha and God
is one and the same
and somewhere Jesus Christ
has disappeared with his crucifixion
between the lines.
Poetry
Prose
Photography
Graphics
Video poems
Postcards
Diary
Books
Handmade
