Poetry Notes - Mrs-claassen.co.za

CITY JOHANNESBURG
By Mongane Wally Serote
POEM: EXPLANATION:
This way I salute you: Throughout this poem, Serote personifies Johannesburg.
my hand pulses to my back trousers pocket Salute = gesture of respect / acknowledgement. Under apartheid, black
or into my inner jacket pocket
people were forced to carry a pass that recorded where and when they had
for my pass, my life,
been granted permission to enter ‘white areas’. If caught without your pass,
Jo’burg City.
you could be imprisoned. So … the poet acknowledges / respects
Johannesburg by presenting his pass.
My hand like a starved snake rears my This simile compares his hand to a hungry snake. A hungry snake searches
pockets
for food like his hand searches for his wallet, which doesn’t contain much
for my thin, ever lean wallet,
money. Lean = thin, containing little fat.
while my stomach groans a friendly smile to Friends are people you know well, so the fact that his stomach groans a
hunger,
“friendly smile” means that he is well acquainted with hunger. His hunger is
Jo’burg City.
linked to Johannesburg – the city doesn’t provide for him well.
My stomach also devours coppers and papers Coppers = small change. Papers = notes. Johannesburg is all about
don’t you know?
industry. It’s where money is made. However, the function of business is
not just to make business owners rich. It’s also to provide a livelihood for
the people who work for them. Food costs money – don’t you know!!!
Jo’burg City, I salute you; Even though he respects the power that Johannesburg has over his life,
when I run out, or roar in a bus to you, Johannesburg is not his life. He has a place where he finds love and
I leave behind me, my love,
acceptance.
my comic houses and people, my dongas and This township is packed with odd looking make-shift houses and shacks
my ever whirling dust,
overlooking untarred streets filled with potholes (“dongas”). Even though his
my death
community is poverty stricken and filled with dangers and death, he still
that’s so related to me as a wink to the eye. accepts it as HIS place (“my”). “Death that’s so related to me as a wind to
the eye” = a simile.
Jo’burg City In these few lines we find out more about the poet’s relationship with
I travel on your black and white and roboted Johannesburg. He has a job in the city and travels in at six every morning,
roads
and out at five every afternoon. The image he uses is that of a human
through your thick iron breath that you inhale breathing. With every breath, your lungs extract the oxygen from the air,
at six in the morning and exhale from five which travels around your body bringing you life. Once the oxygen has
noon.
been extracted from the air, you breathe out what’s left, i.e. carbon-dioxide.
This is the image he’s using. Johannesburg breathes in the workers to bring
it life. Once it has used up what is useful, i.e. their skills and labour, it
breathes them out again. This happens every day.
Jo’burg City Neon flowers = lights. Flaunt = to display boldly. Electrical wind = power
that is the time when I come to you,
when your neon flowers flaunt from your
electrical wind,
that is the time when I leave you,
when your neon flowers flaunt their way
through the falling darkness
on your cement trees.
And as I go back, to my love,
my dongas, my dust, my people, my death,
supply. Cement trees = lamp posts.
where death lurks in the dark like a blade in
the flesh,
“death lurks in the dark like a blade in the flesh” = a simile
I can feel your roots, anchoring your might, The roots of a tree have two functions. The first function is to anchor it
my feebleness
(secure it) in the ground. The root system spreads out, unseen, deep and
in my flesh, in my mind, in my blood,
wide to provide support for the tree. The second function of the roots is to
and everything about you says it, That, that is provide nourishment for the tree. The roots draw up water to feed the tree.
all you need of me.
So … what the poet is saying is that Johannesburg is supported / anchored
by the labour force which works behind the scenes. This labour force
provides the means for the tree to grow and flourish. The poet knows that
the might of Johannesburg is built on the weakness of the labour force. This
weakness comes from the government’s policy of oppressing the black
people physically (“in my flesh”), educationally (“in my mind”), and racially
(“in my blood”). He knows that the owners of the businesses don’t want to
share their wealth. They feel no sense of corporate responsibility. All they
want is cheap labour.
Jo’burg City, Johannesburg. For a child, a trip to the city is an adventure. Everything is so big and
Listen when I tell you,
impressive, and you see things you don’t ordinarily see. However, the poet