Dear Bra Steve by Neo Thipe

Bra Steve

I got a chance to meet your memories; they informend:
you died in the line of duty, securing my freedom,
so i found it fair to forward you this progress report.
S.A democracy in it's teens, already chasing after CAPITALIST suger dads:
the rich are getting richer!
But porverty continues its reign of terror;
racism is as fit as ever.
I'm telling you;
peeling off a few leaves doesn't change the tree.
But our television changed; it changed our morals;
terminal illnesses;
sex sells,
H I Virus.
You see, the truth is as beautiful as a rose and just as thorny,
so they dangle the thorny bit, inflicting fear in our heart;
forcing us to choose fantasy, but fantasy is vanity;
and a lifetime of vanity is insanity.
And if truth shall set me free, then what is this freedom we claim.....
because frankly,
I'm not allowed to Write What I Like,
my history is out of fashion.
Xenophobia is just another word for black unconsciousness.
Unconscious poets take front row in defence of sodomy;
our ecconomy is in the hands of our oppressors;
we are still a colony.
They teach us the traditions of minority rule:
they say "focus on the positive"
what they mean is "ignore the poor, let them cremate in their shacks"
babies aborting their babies.

This is just a brief description of how our democracy is lived.

I hope to hear from you soon, sure bra Steve.

-NEO THIPE-

Lest we forget by VS Yonke

Lest we forget
and our ideals desert
as dried bones in a desert

the sacrifice made
the price paid

into earth their blood seeped
up to the sky bodies heaped

the youth of seventy six
who laid freedom's bricks

Biko, Hani, Tambo
Nalucanda uhambo (you set out the journey)
Nalufeza ugqatso (you completed the race)

Sayifumana inkululeko ngegama (we received freedom in name only)
Iziqhamo zayo anazingcamla (its fruits you never tasted)
Noko zona sezibukrakra (though they have become sour)
Ulutsha lusifa yingculaza (the youth dying of aids)

Ngamaxa ndizive ndizibuza (at times I ask myself)
Yiyo lenkululeko na (is this the freedom)
Ubomi benu nazincama (you sacrificed your lives)
Vukani sizwe esimnyama (rise up black nation)

Eternally you slept
Silently we wept
Let us not forget

Let the words of the poet
Be the truth serum to inject
Consciousness so we remain alert
To unchain our mental shackles yet
So we may not forget
And not regret, lest we forget

© Vuyokazi Yonke