A collection of words, thoughts and musings …
Nettles
nettles are nothing
have you ever been halted by haak and steeks
or danced to a dubbeltjie,s tune
have you ever screamed at a cats claw scratch
or tarried to wag,n bietjies bidding
have you ever been caught by a devils claw
listened to the whisteling buffalo thorn
hooked with a withaak
or sat neath a karoo doring boom
has your broek been hooked by rusty barbed wire
your elbows ever baffeled by a broken bottle wall top
stopped by curly sharp razor draad
or impossibled in the face of swiveling sandton spikes
????????????????
ja ,africa is a dangerous place
The Fire
a.m. 5.30 like beaten brass the sun floods the morning
the call of the ring neck dove has already petered out
42 deg c today
——————in the west the zonderend hills are crisp leftover ash
fugitive fires have kept us beating and beating long black hours
smoke hazes once green valleys
bare grounds clang against the spade
waterless the men stand and wait
wildly clattering and shimmering a monster boils down flinging clouds of of dust and grime
the men leave
the sounds abate
my pointer leaves the landrovers protective cover
licks my knee once with her pink tongue and collapses back in the shade with a sigh
silence
now its 43 deg c
ALASTAIR BARNES 