Staffrider Vol.3 No.1 Feb 1980 - DISA

Poetry/SowetoAllahpoetsTwo Poemsby Maishe MaponyaTHE GHETTOLook deep into the ghettoAnd see modernised gravesWhere only the living dead existManacled with chainsSo as not to resist.Look deep into the ghettoAnd see the streets dividing the gravesStreets watered with tearsStreets with pavementsDyed with bloodBlood of the innocentStreets used by the chainedTo manufacture more chains dailyLook deep into the ghettoYou will see yourselfSilenced by a 99-year leaseThus creating a class struggleWithin a struggle for survival.Look the ghetto overYou will see smog hoverAnd dust chokingThe lifeless-living-deadLook the ghetto overYou will see pain and hungerTorture and oppressionCan you hear beasts of evilAnd creatures of deathBrawling and cryingTo devour youAnd suck the last dropOf blood from your emaciated corpse.Maishe Maponyalishe Maponya and the Allahpoets at a Dube poetry reading,oto, Judas NgwenyaNO ALTERNATIVEYou either stopOr be stoppedYou either serveOr be servedYou have no alternativeEither you say noOr you say yesEither you moveOr be movedYou have no alternativeEither you negotiateOr you don'tEither you fight for itOr you don'tYou have no alternativeYou either oppressOr be oppressedYou have no alternativeWe will all die later!Maishe MaponyaGAME RESERVEI cater for all I mother the wild On my breastThey rest and rust Some see the days passingI am packed: Lions, tigers, tigers, wolves.I bellow like a crazy cow In a slaughter-houseBellowing for my extinction. Elephants, antsBig, big elephants Trampling my little body.Soweto: Human Game Reserve.TONGUEIf I could speakIn the tongues of angels and prophetsPerhaps my wordsWould be takenTo be evidence of injusticeIn you Mother Azania!Mabuse A. Letlhage/CYA, DiepkloofM. Ledwaba/CYA, DiepkloofSTAFFRIDER, FEBRUARY 19809