Soweto

by Siphiwe Ka Ngwenya


Womb of black souls
White with stains
Signs that welcome a stranger
Mean caution
Not coition
Traffic lights red at night
Just yield
& take flight
Sorrow & joy
Lead to you at sunset
Traffic jam of dreams
In the void
Come Friday
Come month end
Ghetto vibration staggering
Couples cuddle
Muggers lurk
The law lives on the loot
Before they shoot
Angelic bodies gyrate to kwaito music
Maskandi takes the lead
When glasses smash on walls
Between a lull of emergency sirens
No ambush
Not even derailing
Of the train dripping
Gravy
I cannot taste