Darkness and Lightness from the Past:
De la Belgique à l’Afrique du Sud
He saw the Congo, a mighty river
As an immense snake, uncoiled
With its head in the ocean
A body slithering
The tail lost in the depths of Africa
Conrad’s heart of darkness
Masking the Belgian route of ivory
Sinister on the left, righteous on the other side
Untamed through the then un-democratic republic
A reptilian watercourse
Of Amazonian dimensions
The dark bleeding heart of Africa
Hearts of old people are strong
Some too strong for their ailing brain
Maybe they should give up earlier
Hearts of young people are fragile
Yes, in a foolish romantic way
But more profoundly in disease-ridden shacks
Where there are no watercourses
Even today
Of any dimension
Conrad wasn’t to know
Where the really dark hearts were
They are here, further south
We have to prevent the massacre
Of young hearts and lives
Bringing much more lightness to the Cape
Darkness and Lightness from the Present:
Musique à Stellenbosch
Oude Libertas
A heart-shaped amphitheatre
Of strings
A Soweto quartet
And a flamenco duet flourishing from the Cape
Lightness grew amidst the darkening skies of even’
Black on white
Afrikaans and Xhosa
Young and older
History and anticipation
Serious undertones but refreshing notes
Across the immense divide
Just twenty years on
Could I believe what I saw
In Stellenbosch?
Yes I could, and did
And they finaled
With the Madiba Jive
Could you ask for more enlightenment in your heart?
Franschhoek, South Africa, February 2014
