Cityscape

by Michelle McGrane

Let me show you heaven and hell:
a city of gold veins and shacktowns;
a labyrinth of mineshafts and asphalt

where the Angel of Commerce and Industry
rises winking from his steel and glass edifice
and the Angel of Kwaito and Minibus Drivers
terrorises the neighbourhood watch.

The electric blue tower pierces the skyline.
The pavements teem
with the nightmares and dreams
of bankers, beggars and designer fiends.

The sparrows swing on the washing lines.
The church bells chime thirteen times.
The sky glows atomic red at dusk fall.
The miner's heartbeat echoes on the rock wall.