lunching at the foot of the gardens

Allan Kolski Horvitz

sir george grey
governor of the cape colony from 1854 to 1861
stands with one foot forward
quite fey
amazing to think he expanded the borders quite efficiently . . . ahem

a malay woman with sagging breasts
adjusts her black veil
strolls past with three small children
dressed in shorts and t-shirts that read:
well done uncle bin laden
sock it to the Yankees

a rat frightens a squirrel
wins the peanut thrown by a bratwurst of a tourist
camera lens as big as his boep

indeed
the heat forces us all into the shade
except for george grey who has to bleach
in the sight of history

*

and in this hour of meditation

the laughter of muscular nigerians
fills the lawns with mangrove swamps and oily deltas
bottles of baby powder masquerading as coke

the clatter of anorexic supermodels strutting down sidepaths
makes schoolboys
burst into pimply flamencos

secretaries in tight pants eating bananas on the benches
send text messages to their boyfriends
imploring invitations to dinner

xhosa cleaners in orange jackets and black hats worthy of halloween
sweep leaves from the feet of bearded Sikhs
sitting hunched over fake passports

mounted policemen nibble weeds
planted by hippies outside parliament on the day
verwoerd went under the knife

streams of curvaceous young women
fail to stop turning old men into yeats
goodgrace ah graciousness ah h a dis g rac e ?

1 january

by Allan Kolski Horvitz


1

I am flying over joburg

louis botha avenue ribboning
to the north and south
shops front dirty sidewalks

we are four million souls in this city
on the highveld
up from the
o c e a n s

I am flying

wondering
what thoughts and sensations
breed and bear fruit in this city
along streets lined with trees
rain has made green

and it
stri k es me

the first task: reproduce!
without a plan for succession there is no survival
every thing moving (except the cars)
is something living that needs to fuck to survive
(except the plants of course)

I am flying over joburg
louis botha must still be renamed
to mark the new age
(for the moment the general keeps his place
as a memory whose fame subsists in
designating this street)

four million souls

recovering from the new year binge
parties that shake off the shackles
the drinking and eating and laughing and bemoaning
spill into the new year

but
this is also time for reflection and passion
and hope

we need this week away from wagework
this renewal
we need to gather up strength
dream eternal


2

I am flying over this settlement
(named joburg)
waves of hysteria and boredom greet the pilot
the task of ascribing meaning
entrusted to tv anchors and workshop devotees
who declare:

human paths stretch meandering
at their own pace
those who wish to hurry had better show patience
-an inhuman trait not to be expected
though to be fair
those who wish for harmony had better first watch
the action of a star being sucked into a black hole
and then come out the other side
in the form of another primal explosion
to appreciate just what power and violence
can and do ando an do an do a n d o

at the cor e of the act of creation