POLY TRICKS [OR IS IT POLITICS] POETRY AT WORK

promises and lies

on the podiums
the con-artists at it

hear the oratory
the dew-like promises

their henchmen at it
in towns, cities and villages

gratuitously dispensing violence
pleasing the sadistic masters

con-artists with poly tricks
raping the people again

those bags of poly tricks
the demise is at hand


once bitten

out of their cocoons
sleeping in huts on reed mats
throwing trinkets like confetti
the floods of sweet promises
opportunists and their henchmen
giving rides in fast imported cars
building the false consciousness

then the deathly silence comes
the broken or forgotten promises
the richman's heaven is the poorman's hell
with their concubines wining and dining
elsewhere the whirlwinds and dust
they are gone, gone for a long time

to a nutty professor

then you had incisive thoughts
delivering telling blows
the thunder and lightning of protest
then you tasted the evil candy
joined the obscene wining and dining
the songs of praise submerged the dirges
[will you say you were the cancer?]
din of doubt in our minds
that protracted assault on independent thought
the truncheons outpaced thought
those draconian pieces of legislation
that we forever bitterly remember

jilted lover

the sweet caresses
the succulent love making
a match made in heaven
seemingly eternal bliss

then the promises and lies
the fire died then
the jilted lover on the rampage
holding onto illusions

the dawning reality
blows and kicks replace caresses
rival suitors bruised
erstwhile lover raped!


bird of prey

despondency like a bird of prey
in its claws holds our hopes
tearing to shreds our aspirations
devouring our cherished future

but look at our resilience
the vampires cannot hold sway
ours is a righteous fight
throw the heavy armour away

could these be the days of old
the days of the sling and the stone
the days of the donkey jaw bone
the fate of the jericho walls

that hope refuses to die
that bird of prey is smote
hot lead pierces its heart
the chicks grow unharmed