You don't trust my knowledge
Because yours is incomplete
You don't know where I'm from;
how I've worked
how I've thought
How I've fought.
You only know my fellow citizen
The one covered in flies, shit & poverty
You only know if we have food or none
How clean is our water
How brown is our savanna
Y'know. You think.
But I'm here now.
I'm in your face.
I'm fighting here. now.
Listen. List!EN!
I speak English too. too.
You'll know me now. if you just listen.
Don't assign me to your shadowed streets.
Employ me. In conversation.
Knowledge is transferred.
Imagine how much more you'll know, when you know, my knowledge
6 comments:
love this, particularly after reading your post on Po's blog.
:) Thanks so much SvD! Never know how my poetry attempts are going to come off - decent or "teenage angst".
And if you are commenting at a time like this, it must mean you are living on the same island as me right now! Some of the inspiration behind this was from my ceaseless failing attempts to get into the aid world here, and by that terrible World Vision ad on night-time tv - African kid with a water bottle. I HATE that ad!
i am indeed, and probably from not as far away as you might think on an island so big.
was just talking to the g/f the other day about World Vision and how difficult it is to ensure that your money gets to where you want it to.
i lived in Nepal, and watching the way the UN operates just made me sad. So sad. But i'll complain about that another day.
But SvD, have I not been reading your blog for a few months now?? And chuckled at SOMEONE else in my blog circle knowing about the Coles/Safeway pain!?
I'll hold back my comments about either of those two gorges global organisations.
Except, in terms of the UN, I do keep saying, you have to be in it to change it. BUT! How do you get in, stay in and not be changed or subdued by it!
What were you doing in Nepal?
Champers, it has been SO long, but I was reading your blog & didn't even realise you were now living in 'Stralia! Being a true Natalian, I am married (but unlike most, to an Aussie) ... which throws up huge questions about nationality, identity, how much I yearn for SA,how the current politics is eating me, how conscious I am of how little most foreigners know or want to know about where we come from. Your poem is just amazing for getting that feeling across.
We're still living in Dubai but will be doing long stints in SA interspersed with Oz.
Love your work!
Hello Heddles! Great to hear from you!
Ha ha - I like that I can bandy you about as a Natalian stereotype. Thanks! :P
Thanks for the kind & encouraging words on the poem. really much appreciated!
Give me a shout if you ever get to Melbs in the next 4 years.
And when are you going to start blogging again?
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