Poem
John Eppel
Winter in Matabeleland, 1987
Winter in Matabeleland, 1987
Winter in Matabeleland, 1987
The air lock in our hosepipe won\'t be heardfor another season;
the spider in our spout, he won\'t be stirred
for another season.
The Zanu/Zapu dialogue is dead
until what rains?
The Somabula Flats are tinctured red
until what rains?
On caps of wind the migrant swallows soar:
will they return?
Our soldiers guard the Beira Corridor:
will they return?
I found a rusty bayonet in the yard:
lest we forget;
some two-by-four and half a playing card:
lest we forget.
We watch our garden dying flower by flower . . .
perhaps the spring?
the water table falling hour by hour . . .
perhaps the spring?
There\'s part of a heart on the card I found:
does it portend?
The Rhodies rev their Hondas, southward-bound
does it portend?
Our new-born baby squints her eyes to see
(love, light the fire)
her two dimensional security.
Love, light the fire.
© 1989, John Eppel
From: Spoils of War
Publisher: Carrefour Press, Cape Town
ZANU/ZAPU – Zimbabwe African National Union and Zimbabwe African People\'s Union.
In 1988 their merger into ZANU (PF) ended the violence in Matabeleland.
Somabula Flats – a sparsely wooded area on the eastern borders of Matabeleland
From: Spoils of War
Publisher: Carrefour Press, Cape Town
Poems
Poems of John Eppel
Close
Winter in Matabeleland, 1987
The air lock in our hosepipe won\'t be heardfor another season;
the spider in our spout, he won\'t be stirred
for another season.
The Zanu/Zapu dialogue is dead
until what rains?
The Somabula Flats are tinctured red
until what rains?
On caps of wind the migrant swallows soar:
will they return?
Our soldiers guard the Beira Corridor:
will they return?
I found a rusty bayonet in the yard:
lest we forget;
some two-by-four and half a playing card:
lest we forget.
We watch our garden dying flower by flower . . .
perhaps the spring?
the water table falling hour by hour . . .
perhaps the spring?
There\'s part of a heart on the card I found:
does it portend?
The Rhodies rev their Hondas, southward-bound
does it portend?
Our new-born baby squints her eyes to see
(love, light the fire)
her two dimensional security.
Love, light the fire.
From: Spoils of War
ZANU/ZAPU – Zimbabwe African National Union and Zimbabwe African People\'s Union.
In 1988 their merger into ZANU (PF) ended the violence in Matabeleland.
Somabula Flats – a sparsely wooded area on the eastern borders of Matabeleland
Winter in Matabeleland, 1987
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère