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Cry Sebastian Jan 2010
Trek my siel uit met swart onlogiese krapmerke op my pick n pay strokie.

Breek my fingers af op n hout skryf blad
en hou die honde naby vir die bene wat spat.

Vermergel dan my vellies
en gooi dit op n graf
en se dis vir al die girlys
-dis van papers wat smag.

Edel en opreg is die regter se kaf.
Heilig is die helde van die bars van die nag.
Ons onthou die spoke van Oranje stad,
Ons kleef aan hulle woorde soos n tros vol kak.
Ons hou van die serries en die doef van Jak,
En moenie met my stry nie ek sal jou in pak.

Melodie jou wysie met ewige tone,
mengel mooi jou woordtjies met jou oulike drome.
Hou die fort van veiligheid en nasionalisme,
Wees n patriot en vermoor Anglisisme.

Beskerm jou mother language teen n kombuis taal.
Daar is niks in hierdie wereld wat die taal mag vaal.
Dis stasie was stil
en donker gelaat.
Die nag kwyn in lig
en die dag kry sy wraak.
Die spore le koud
verdwyn op die horison,
en ek wag vir 'n stoomtrein
wat nooit sal kom.

Karre jaag die lewe
in die stad duskant die spoor aan
en 'n sateliet voer ons inligting
vanuit sy ordinere wentelbaan,
maar ek verspeel my tyd
deur hier langs die spoor te staan.

My soeke vir liefde
was waar liefde ontbreek,
soos om te wag vir 'n stoomtrein
of om vir kos te smeek.
Ek soek nou vir liefde
op die verlate stasies
van die vandag se tyd
, maar al wat ek kry is 'n taxi
en die wereld lag my uit.

Ek wag vir my trein.
Ek wag vir jou.
Look at this old concrete wall
   Warmed by the sun.
   Soon the ants will come out
   To dance for You

   What would You like?
   Something rapid or languorous
   Or that they be perfectly still?

Seanfhalla

Féach an seanfhalla coincréite ******>Á théamh ag an ngrian.
Is gearr go mbeidh na seangáin amuigh
Chun damhsa Duit

Cé acu ab fhearr Leat é?
Gasta nó mall?
Nó iad a bheith ina stad?
Johan Nel Jul 2016
Teen die hange van die berge-nag
Speel die donker op die ligte sag
Die kalm daal op die chaos-stad
Van klank en mense op elke kronkel pad
Dit voer jou mee in 'n sterre mat

In skoon lug met 'n oop kop
Kan gedagtes net vloei en skrop
Aan dinge wat is en kom
Aan mens wees, goed en krom
Aan die eenvoud en dit wat verstom

Woorde lê in 'n niks-wees dwaal
Dis rou, dit is maar net  -  dis kaal
Net om die stemme wat skree te verlos
Dinge wat 'n uitlaat soek in die kosmos
Dit het ink gevind, soos vuur in fynbos
© Johan Nel (written in December 2015)
Knuppeldik gaan slaap die stad
na 'n feesmaal van smaak en kleur
vloei die reuke deur die strate
in 'n Brown se beweging van geur.

Alle trommels , trommeldik maar maak 'n lee geraas
en in die donker , agterstrate begin die ander nou te aas

Kom die honger hande uit die sakke
en krap met rook-geel vingernael
soek die skummel in die swartsak
vir 'n laaste dissipelsmaal.

Maar jy is skille , jy is doppe
jy is alles wat laat gril
nie genoeg vir koningstafels maar vir my
net genoeg om die  knaagdiere te stil.

Onerfare soos ek is , vat my hongerbrein ook mis
watter mens kan so dan lewe? watter mens kan so dan eet?
van die lykswa en die straatveers
het hierdie boemelaar vergeet.
Ek is mens en nie 'n vark nie,
(al moet 'n mens ook eet).

En stil vergaan die boemelaar
wat kieskeur ook wou wees,
nog 'n straatkind se ou lykie
nog 'n honger kinder gees...

ek wat was het mos gesien
*** kos op tafels lyk,
en het sodanig hart verloor
op kosse kleur en ruik.

Met 'n bord vol knubbels le die lykie
voor hom , onaangeraak.
Al was kos ook wat kos was daar
het hy te lief vir die droom geraak.

Eerder kwyn en dood verslaan
as om die droom te ruineer.
Eerder dood van honger,
as om hierdie kos , as sulks te eer.
seethroughme Dec 2018
‘n miljoen bome
se asems beur op
in ‘n groen waas
teen die dwang
van bruin lug
se gewig
Andrew L Manson Jul 2018
Ik druk mijn lippen op jouw naam,
sierlijk op een enveloppe geschreven,
fragmenten van herinneringen,
in een brief die ik je nooit heb gegeven.

Weet je nog *** wij de eerste keer liepen,
door die oude hoofdstad van ons land?
Door de straten zwervend, lachend,
jouw koude in mijn warme hand.

En weet je nog de kleurigste herfst,
wandelend door het bos bij de duinen,
met jouw dochter die vol bewondering
naar paddenstoelen liep te struinen?

En weet je nog die hoogste schommel,
die bijna reikte tot de maan
waarop ik jou steeds hoger duwde,
omdat ik nog niet weg wilde gaan?

En weet je nog *** wij samen,
slenterend door winkels van ingebonden papier,
intiem pratend, de wereld negerend,
jij mijn hand pakte en zei “hier”?;
“Voel *** wij uit alle macht
hetzelfde dansen op het ritme van dit leven”
en *** ik toen ter plekke bedacht
dat ik jou mijn wereld wilde geven.

En weet je nog, toen het tij
zich tegen ons begon te keren
en wij nog dachten dat wij samen
de storm wel zouden kunnen trotseren,
*** ons roerloze schip
tezamen met mijn wereld is vergaan,
toen de golven van emoties
het tegen de rotsen hebben doen slaan?

En heb je het nog gehoord dat ik zoekend,
tussen het wrakhout in de koude oceaan,
jouw naam heb geroepen tot ik,
schor en half in verdriet verdronken,
maar aan land ben gegaan?

En heb je het geweten dat ik dolend,
over bospaden en de straten van die oude stad,
gezocht heb naar sporen van jou,
niet wetende of je aan mij dacht of dat je mij vergat?

Maar wat je niet hebt kunnen weten
en waarschijnlijk ook niet meer ziet
is dat ik nooit heb kunnen vullen,
de leegte die je achter liet.

Ik druk mijn lippen op jouw naam,
sierlijk op een enveloppe geschreven,
fragmenten van herinneringen,
in een brief die ik je nooit heb gegeven
A Henslo Feb 2019
DE SNEEUW VINDT HAAR EINDE OP EEN WARM GAZON
EN WAT OVERBLIJFT

De diepste indruk maakt een dik pak sneeuw.
Rustig residu die middag,
opziend naar een wonderblauwe hemel.

Sneeuw biedt je weer een lijf, zet je een hoed op,
begraaft je in haar tweede natuur, met een schijnsel
van sepia, lekkend schemerblauw.

De sneeuw friemelt aan je voegen,
wil naar binnen.

In de sneeuw ben je engelachtig
en zij is niet beangstigend, zij lijkt ons veeleer
te omarmen en te beschermen
op onze weg door de stad

Zelfs middelbaar ben je weer even kind.
De sneeuw vangt ons met haar gepeperde adem
en geeft frisse lucht.

Zij komt en gaat en komt weer terug
Zij hoopt zich op zonder
hoop op duurzaamheid
& wenst niet te blijven.

De sneeuw, ik benijd haar,
dat zij zal verdwijnen
laat haar koud

Zij is haar eigen landschap,
met haar coole witkalk
creëert ze
een albasten pracht

trekt zich dan terug zonder klacht.
English Dutch transposition by A.Henslo
Original poem by Deborah Landau, 2018

The Snow Goes to the Gallows of a Warm Grass  and What Survives

The deepest redress is a thick and fulsome snow.
Peaceful prevail of afternoon,
looking out at this bluish marvel the air.

The snow realizes you a body, puts on you a hat,
tombs you in its second nature, with consequence
of sepia, a leaking dusky blue.

The snow fumbles at your borders,
wants a way in.

In the snow we are angelic
and it’s not discouraging in fact it is marvellous
when the snow has its arms around us
and we walk the streets as if safe.

You’re a child, even in midlife.
The snow clouds us in its peppery breath
and the air comes fresh.

It comes and goes and comes again
it doesn’t aim for durability
it accumulates for the sake of it
& doesn’t want to last.

The snow, I envy it,
it will vanish
but it doesn’t care,

it’s its own garden,
its own cool chalky paint―
kicks up
an alabaster splendor

then retreats without complaint.
Tha 's e seallad air beulaibh orm
Thàinig sin o na h-ainglean
Tha cuibhlichean na h-ùine air stad dhuinn
Mar a ràinig sinn an am seo ann an ùine
Oir mar as fhaisg a tha mi ort
Mar as fhaisg a tha mi air neambh

English:

There is a view in front of me
That came from the angels
The wheels of time have stopped for us
As we approach this moment in time
Because the closer I am to you,
the closer I am to heaven.
Thank you to my muse for the inspiration.
Gorba Mar 2020
Det var en gång
En man bestämde sig
att lämna allt bakom sig
För att söka framgång

Det var en gång
En man åkte till en främmande stad
Bara för att han hade tillstånd
Och hört om den på en verkstad

Det var en gång
En man hamnade
I en värld mer mystisk
Än han trodde

Det var en gång
En man som försökte
Vänja sig vid kulturen
Hamnade vilsen

Det var en gång
En man tänkte sig
Att åka tillbaka
Varifrån han kom

Det var en gång
En man föredrog
Att stanna lite längre
För att utforska mer och bättre

Det började som en saga
Man vet inte riktigt hur eller när det kommer sluta
Men mannen förväntar sig
Att i framtiden kunna dela med sig

Av att han levde lycklig i flesta av sina dagar
Med sina gamla och nya kompisar
Kanske med några barn
Men troligen med kärlek.
Will the moment comes when we will be together,
arm in arm, embraced as we dance until the morning?

Listening to the songs of the western ocean;
a kiss upon my cheek while on you, my sacred colors adorning.

We embrace and reflect on the first glance of each others' eyes
While the earth below us is illuminated by endless, starry skies.

I never want this moment to end; entwined by land and sea.
I will bless the very day you first glanced at me.

And if the sun fades forever, and our souls become blue,
In this world or in the next, I swear, I will never abandon you.

///

An tig am mionaid nuair a bhios sinn còmhla;
gàirdean air a ghabhail a-steach agus sinn a 'dannsa gu madainn?

Ag èisteachd ri caol a 'chuain an iar;
pòg air mo ghruaidh, fhad 's a tha e ort, mo dhathan naomh a' sgeadachadh.

Bidh sinn a 'gobhail ri agus meòrachadh air a 'chiad sealladh de shùilean a chèile
tha an talamh gu h-ìosal air a shoilleireachadh le speuran gun stad.

Chan eil mi a-riamh ag iarraidh gun tig an ire seo gu crìch, air a cheangle le fearann is muir
Beannaichidh mi an dearbh latha a choimead thu orm an toiseach

Agus ma tha a 'ghrian a' dol fodha gu bràth agus ar n-anaman a' 'fas gorm
Anns an t-saoghal seo no an ath rud, tha mi a 'mionnachadh cha trèig mi thu gu bràth
Daan Sep 2022
't Is warm of koud, droog of nat
en altijd druk druk druk.
Zij die nog een passie hebben,
mogen spreken van geluk.

Zit ze zondag in de zetel?
Heeft hij harde hordes hoog te huppelen?
Zeg alstublieft niet dat je iets voelt druppelen.
De stad, dat is een heksenketel.

In gras en stilte zoek ik tevergeefs de vlucht,
besluit ik deze week met een lange diepe zucht.
Voorbeeld
Mateuš Conrad Jun 2022
it's 2am and i just finished a 10 hour shift so i'm not going to use any flamboyant language, i can spare myself this at least once...

well, i took my time - it was only about 10 years of hell
before i started living again...
10 years of being a recluse: of being misdiagnosed
as a schizophrenic - put on anti-depressants,
anti-psychotics gaining 50kg...

              and then the death of my grandfather...
the whole pandemic *******:
     i actually fed off the crisis... i came from it on top...
i guess some of us did: while others were forced
into what i was ****** into: everything anti-social
imaginable... i thrived...
                 i fed off the situation... lost weight...
stopped being invisible to the opposite ***...
                         even my grandfather's death was
revealing about my strength of character....
                       at first i couldn't mourn...
    i found it easier to bleed from my head after a night
of drinking ended with my slipping and knocking
my head on the radiator...
bleeding was easier than crying: and i wanted to cry
so bad: to find closure...
                          it must have been 3 months before the tear
finally came... what a beautiful release...
   done: now it's reality... the death-reality...

then starting a new job...
    only started last December and finally...
   i'm building up a very good reputation: haven't ****** up
once... i'm on good terms with the managers:
a real wage-y: i love the long hours i love the hurting feet...
the weak knees...
   touch wood i am yet to be confronted by the public...
unless it's for having selfies taken with them...
and now i might become a permanent supervisor of
stewards... even though i don't have the "necessary"
qualifications of NVQ level 3...
    hell... it's like the old way: gain enough experience,
prove yourself and a piece of paper is worth jack ****...
just ask Neville Chamberlain when he came back
from Munich...

truly: be out of work for long enough...
    get your confidence back in private after starting to exercise:
not to look better... that's second...
heart condition from my youth...
high blood pressure... hardly "looks-maxing":
health reasons... the looks just came as a bonus...

i seriously thought i was introverted:
  family members used to drill into me the mantra:
stop being shy... even though now: you'd think twice...
i sort of wish my grandfather was alive to see
me working... he really wanted to see that happening:
working and not working with my father
in the construction industry: to go among people
who were strangers...
                                     oh well...

i couldn't believe my luck today...
    i was signing in for the shift and one of the owners
of the company pulled me aside and said
he wanted  word with me: nothing bad...
             right, Matthew... you're going to be a supervisor...
i'm giving you 10 stewards...
my head started spinning... i thought i was constipated
too...
            humble beginnings...
at Fulham... stuck to walking around the park
before Craven Cottage to...
             pitch-side... supervisor...
i couldn't believe my luck...

i mean... security jobs run in the family...
    my great-grandfather was a security guard at a kindergarten,
and a caretaker...
one of my cousins worked as a security guard in
a supermarket...
me?!

   hmm... i was walking with this massive grin on my face...
i'm getting paid to be here...
  London stadium pitch-side...
i never thought i'd like Fall Out Boy...
until they started playing this one song and i took
off the headphones and started tapping my feet...
oh i knew of Fall Out Boy... but i was never into them...
but seeing them live?
what? song? Uma Thurman...
               now i'm listening to it on repeat...

sure... Weezer were good too...
                          and Green Day too...
      although it's a shame they finished on
All the Young Dudes... it would have been so perfect
if they finished their set Have the Time of Your Life...
right... and that was only today...
tomorrow i'll be parading my smile:
i'm getting paid to be here... and i'm watching
the Red Hot Chilli Peppers live...
i wonder who's going to be supporting them...

ha... and a pay rise... it's true what people say:
if you stick to your guns... sift through the ****** beginnings,
wait your turn... you'll reap rewards...
now i have to go through the entire setlist
of Fall Out Boy...
       Uma Thurman... ****... what a good song...

hell... and then on the 29th June and 1st of July:
Ed Sheeran at Wembley...
                                     life has become beautiful again...
for so long it was ugly... ugly a wet haggard mutt...

nope... i could never leave London,
not now... i'm part of the integral cultural backdrop
of the city... football matches, concerts,
this that and the other...
   and to think... well... i'm not really thinking...
for a boy born in a little ******* of a town in Poland...

well... it wasn't really a *******...
some of the steel pillar used in the Stad de France
for the 1998 world cup were produced
in the metallurgy industry... well Europe still
produced metallurgical architectural details...
before the industry was "stolen" by either China
or India... oh sure... the West celebrated the fall
of Communism... but towns like
Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski collapsed...
from a population size of reaching 100K mark...
it's now known as the town emeritus...
so many people fled after so many men were laid
off as Huta Ostrowiec collapsed...

but it's good i left when i was 8... if i left as a teenager
or an early adult: i wouldn't have this self-owned
hybrid new-English mentality...
because it's my own... the native population can't
really dictate its customs and habits...
since i'm also sort of native...
   an outsider-native... i've managed to "pollute" the waters
with my own interpretations...
whether it's concerning behaviour or
language application...

                          i face it all the time...
the best memories of childhood i have from Poland...
it's only 4 years worth of memories...
4 years worth which translates to about 10 concrete
memories that i preciously kept...
36 - 8 = 28.... years in England...
              happily not going to make the mistake
that other immigrants made when they didn't
entrust their mother tongues to their children:
trying to forcibly integrate...
    that sort of anti-racist pacifism or whatever you
want to call it...
i'd rather Somalis spoke Somali
than these hollowed out shells that speak English
but... you know: don't look English...
was it really that lazy to avoid creating Dutch-esque
republics... or the Scandinavian model...
the Swiss model... too hard to keep two languages?!
i kept both of mine...
   i'm better for it... if i forgot Polish i'd be a *******...
literally...
by now America could be a pristine bilingual model
of a country... English and Spanish...
but no...

well... i never understood the modern take on
autobiographies...
people live these interesting lives...
they reach a certain age and have this
retrospective-crisis... by then memory has been
eroded... and life written about that only has
these zenith events is such a boring read...
there's nothing about: this one time i made this
perfect brew of tea... for example: not really...

at least ancient Roman poets had a vague idea
about what an autobiography is like:
having X opinions aged 21... but Y opinions aged 36...
or... i'm still writing this while listening
to Fall Out Boy's Uma Thurman on repeat...
i don't think i'd be listening to it
if i didn't hear it live first...
                i don't even mind not having eaten much
throughout the day...
i was eating adrenaline: ***** and giggles...

oh man... i'm a truly lucky man...
    like Bukowski once wrote: there's no luck like
that of a madman...
      funny aside: you can't go mad twice...
you can only have one proper psychotic trip...
which, given enough time-span is probably better
than any hallucinogenic ingestion:
psychosis can't be a scary word...
               soul-osmosis... sure... with psychosis
the soul escapes the confines of the mind...
of what i can best describe as: "audible"-thinking...
Descartes' res cogitans model disintegrates:
yet res extensa is kept intact:
   auditory hallucinations?! i confined them to
the res extensa...
    and then played a trick on the symptoms with my
bilingualism... i "heard" a hallucination in English
then switched languages... weird...
i stopped hearing auditory hallucinations...

3am is creeping and i need to be up by 10am
to get ready... shine my shoes... iron my trousers...
iron my shirt... probably try to eat something...
     yeah... life is beautiful...
          people are beautiful...
                       everything is beautiful:
i should know: for the longest of time everything
was ugly... reminiscent of Ralph Fiennes
in the 2002 film: Spider...
                                         it was that bad;
but like my grandfather kept reminding me:
who do you have to thank for getting out of this
horror? guess... guess who?!
exactly: you and only you alone...
   not me... not psychiatrists, not psychologists...
you... you pulled your own weight:
i like that inversion of mea culpa into what became:

            ego vis.
In die hart van Afrika se suidegrond,
Styg ’n taal, sterk en bond.
Diep in son en sand,
Stemme dra oor hierdie land.

Afrikaans, die taal van hart en kin,
Gevleg met stories van waar ons was en bin.
Van boereveld tot stad se straat,
Sy ritme sterk, sy klank hard.

Woorde wat van berge hoog weerklink,
Stories oud, na die hemel gesink.
Met elke “sê,” ’n belofte gegee,
Van erfenis wat nooit sal verdwyn.

Ons taal sing van lag, van trane en vrees,
Van stryde gewen en drome geheg.
Al verander die tyd, al rol die gety,
Afrikaans bly staan, sterk en vry.

So hef jou stem, laat dit luid wees,
’n Lied van trots, ’n taal om te lees.
Want in elke frase, elke woord en rym,
Dra ons ons Afrikaans, deur elke tyd.

— The End —