Chapbook "Brickworks"
 Front Cover |  Back Cover |
A Conversation in Poem: Mxolisi Nyezwa & F. Geoffrey Johnson
Song for the New Man
this day onward into the
indestructible future
we will fight fire with fire tell me where they have hidden the gold now where have they hidden the gold listen to this, because the gods of all the infernos and explosives carry their handkerchiefs in their hands the thieves run perplexed toward a jubilant stormt the bastards and morons with silver tongues the devils and sad bitches with roses and black knives geoff, my brother we have sixty one conversations to place at market-related price on the jse man, there are two sides to any story one for death and destruction and the discolouring of green leaves another for the smallest bird in the universe the sweetest voice in the universe man, they took away your culture and left a snake with legs like the dying wings of the sun the morons drove three nails through textiles through ports and the mouths of serious animals listen, they took the gold and left bank notes on which is written the face of a smiling murderer they took the men and the women and the children and left a bemused trail of human blood the revolution is not over, I swear! we will play the jazz of our destruction we will count the arms and bodies of a fleeing wind listen my brother, it takes a long time to tame an angry sea, any sea it takes a long time for a continent to heal listen! they took the women took the children away africa weeps to this day i swear we are collecting the machetes and the sticks, the new guns and the airplanes that spit more fire, we are collecting nuclear machinery to return fire with fire, wind with wind, thunder with thunder we’ve learnt not to trust we’ve seen the thundering of the sky right in front of our eyes, the sad bemused spectacle of the ancient world raped and maimed in our lifetime where are all the sixty thieves the careless bastards and the sons and daughters of thieves NOTE: "jse" is johannesburg stock exchange Copyright © 2009, Mxolisi Nyezwa, All rights reserved From the chapbook, Brickworks, by F. Geoffrey Johnson, 2009 First published by Caversham Press, South Africa, 2009 Hand-bound Limited Edition of 24 | Response to "Song for the New Man"
my brother mxolisi
i agree, there are two sides to every story i also agree, the devil has worked overtime to destroy the children of our mothers land there is no just in the justice meted yet, the road to civility cannot be through more destruction fighting fire with fire leaves a land fit only for the vanquished thunder with thunder will rock the heavens but leave nothing on the plate of the distraught look at history to see the trail machetes and sticks destroyers and bombs leave the trail of blood will run thick but will this blood nourish people starving will revenge raise our children to adults will death harvest a crop of leaders for the future it is all right to be angry you cannot be angrier than the blacks in america who try to grasp any straws available of their heritage the great grandchildren of slaves who were traded, stolen and sold murdered and hung fighting for freedom the children of slaves who are orphans to a past of richness yet cannot claim a land they know their ancestors came from and yet are judged today for the lack of melanin in their skin or the straightness of their hair, due to the rape of their mothers, mothers you cannot be any angrier than the palestinians who have battled the jews since cain and able or the japanese who were bombed with nuclear weapons or the serbians, red indians or anyone else who have been decimated by violence where is their benefit from retaliation, from death zimbabwe is not richer for ridding itself of those who colonized them blood has not brought back the lives of the tutsies or hutus of rwanda and given their children a life of freedom bombs have not brought freedom to iraqi children or given them hope for the future the congo is not better off because of a war fueled by despots and greed color is a subplot to the story, evil is the main character evil cannot survive the light of day to cover him with more darkness will only play to his hand, strengthen his resolve embolden his determination evil enjoys this game of destruction especially when it is not on his turf mxolisi, hope and courage for our children is through peace does the bull elephant have to tout his strength does a man beating a woman get her to care for him any better or love him any more through violence will more death bring back the mother of ulwazi i won’t tell you peace is an easy journey or that I have all of the answers the dogs unleashed on the civil rights workers during the sixties, in the usa, were not the perpetrators of hate the trainers of the dogs were the devils today we have the opportunity to change the heart of the new trainers, this is a slow process but i see evidence of change this dialogue was not possible fifty years ago i would not have had the opportunity in america to travel to south africa and south africa would not have welcomed me the fact that i am here, today, at this time, in this place let’s me know there is hope for our children we can easily make the choice to kill, to destroy but we will only have killed the patient and the doctor not cured the disease, nor brought an end to its cause i suggest we work on finding a cure to the condition which brings us so much pain and grief not taking aspirin or morphine to cover the pain we can toss metaphors back and forth all day for this is what poets do i will go back to america, to my 500 channels of tv and write and paint and pray and work on bringing peace to those surrounding me i will turn on the news and watch to see what is happening in south africa, being more concerned because of the relationships i have formed and weep when friends are killed for no reason but this still will not change anything i am not going to preach to grown men about war or the benefits of peace, for them, the die is cast i will spend my time among the children and try to teach them the lessons of love the makers of bombs benefit when someone buys the bomb the manufacturers of machetes benefit when the machete is sold the builders of airplanes and weapons of destruction profit from their sale they will sit comfortably at home awaiting the next order sipping a martini, watching cnn and the value of their stock rise on the jse until man makes causes which lead to peace there will be no peace i end with the words of michael franti "we can bomb the world to pieces but we can’t bomb it into peace" Copyright ©, 2009, F. Geoffrey Johnson, All rights reserved From the chapbook, Brickworks, by F. Geoffrey Johnson, 2009 First published by Caversham Press, South Africa, 2009 Hand-bound Limited Edition of 24 |
