Cries from Soweto
Ashes to ashes
dust to dust
when shall we stop ubieting our bald sons?
or when shall we cease nursing our uglified rape victims?
songs of sorrow has escaped our bruised lips
the nation’s dirge sobs strong with salty fluids from heavy eyes
cries became our antiphon before the open earth
we are bruised by sharp boots and crisp whips
thundered by turgid white lightning and brown khakis
sortied by the sons of bitches who snogged us
carbine-armed nitwits marched down on our villages
freedom is coming tomorrow
herd of cattle has gone, stroked to death
dogs bark at the mere sight of the waking sun
it’s another day in hell
weep for the pain of Africa
weep for the loss of her dignity
weep for the untimely demise of her future
like a woman she wailed uncontrolled through the streets
looking for her children of the soil
who will comfort her?
who will soothe her pains and relieve her of her agony?
freedom is coming tomorrow
II
180 Sharpeville victims troop into Soweto for earthly help
69 trooped beyond for divine help
hallelujah
O Lord hear our cries
we sob at the mention of freedom
and squirm at the thought of sanity
we are gradually becoming animals
shall we degrade your creation process?
and foil your creation ingenuity?
we long to remain humans
you strip our fellow humans of humaneness
and turned them against us in cruelty
they fobbed off their watery humanity
descended on us like the morning star did
and unleashed their fury on us like the Führer und Reichskanzler
we became pawns on the chessboard for the crown
victims of sortilege
freedom is coming tomorrow
III
scorched by antilife legislation
destroyed like the antimacassar of our buttocks
we became dumbstruck aphonic
we grunt under the weight of neo-slavery
effeminate greyhounds to hunt down our dreams
haunted ourselves by monster griffins in suit
we danced to terrific rembetikas at our peril
tickled by somber remex to lure us to slumber
freedom is coming tomorrow
IV
prepare momma
get ready papa
men withering in the prisons
mothers weeping behind beds for their loss
dry your tears
shivering mad men on the streets of Soweto
sanity is around the corner
Soweto
cry no more
freedom is coming tomorrow
