eThekwini Saturday Night

Marí Peté

God awakes in a lush bed of stars,
pierces
through ozone scar:
scans contour and country,
descends
to His beloved southern city.

North a bollywood babe
slips through casino’s glossy lips,
tourists sip slow cocktails
round rim-flow pools
in shades of beige.

                     Further south
God cools His lips, rests His feet
with meaty men who drown their beards
after yet another Shark’s defeat.

God’s loving gaze caresses curves of the bay –
under humid blankets old rickshaws stir in sleep.
Hobos feast on bunny chows. Taxis pulse like giant hearts.
In storm water shelters cockroaches and children
play hide-and-seek. God’s giddy on glue,
massala, frangipani.

       God
          trips
over earth’s belly –
comes tumbling down this
heaving round
burial mound,
sees                the sky,
alive with disease.

Where fishing lines arch with silver shad,
the first Zionist rises in ecstasy
like sun from sea. God bows down,
eye lashes wet, sharp as blades –
kisses         His beloved eThekwini.

For Robin Opperman and the Umcebo Trust - http://home.telkomsa.net/tabby/ (May 2005)



LitNet: 20 December 2005

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