city breathing

Architecture of Durban Poetry Project
1.
Makhosazana comes to Durban and instantly forgets her name
Her thoughts scrape the sky and she ends up against the wall
Somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep
The promising city of dreams drank her deep
Now she is
Wailing to the tune of Yakhalínkomo
While the wind carries her home
Drifting in and out of dirt and hurt
And the ocean soothes the pain
No life is ever in vain
And that tall building reminds her of Miles Davis and Sketches of Spain
Of Sipho Gumede’s Chickens Today Feather-Dusters Tomorrow
2.
Her thoughts scrape the sky
Since 2010 the buildings cornerstones have grown grimier
Conferences in Geneva rhyming through the centuries
And the elders still whisper through her woven hair
And anthem of the decades...
Yet she remains breathless, hapless and blue.
The city breathes easier with the morning’s sunrise
And her chapped lips seek the greener grass, the garden routes and the water fountains
Where are all the water fountains?
Morning market colours come alive with the boys in tattered skirts and sleeveless shirts
Running through the streets delivering the first fruits
Delivering the mielies, ubhatata and the sweet potato shoots
And the girls in the boys in their school uniforms early birds chasing the freshest worm
And the labour-force hailing taxi’s, hopping off busses rushing off to work
And while the city comes alive clean as the good doctor’s glove
Hope floats towards the high windows of office suites for job-seekers
All in line for a piece of that devils pie ...