Kliptown Shantytown

by Siphiwe Ka Ngwenya


Kliptown shantytown
dreams silenced
by the morning rain
footsteps of running commuters

kliptown shantytown
the sky loses its brains
in torrents it starts to rain
people use tables as boats

kliptown shantytown
when day is young
women wash clothes down the river
children swim like fish in dirt

kliptown shantytown
frogs croak crickets chirp children snore
and nakedness entangles with passion
till dawn

Begging

by Siphiwe Ka Ngwenya


begging has become a profession
unemployment our occupation
every soul wandering on city pavements
turning poverty into fiction
I always read words of pain
like graffiti scribbled on these sombre faces
& hidden smiles
sore lips & quivering bruised hands
who have learned the art
of lying without hurting
from those who speak diverse tongues
of the streets
of blistered hope & lynched dreams
I see them everywhere
For I am just a poet
Trudging their gravel road

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