Gert Strydom Poems

(for Annelize)

North-northwest the Cape winter wind howls
while out of the rain you dry yourself with a towel,
...

(after Lucas Malan)

What does a person know about the man that stands at the traffic light
in the hot sun away from the shadow of the trees in the lane
...

(after Ina Rousseau)

Where each one of us stands on the stage of the world,
where our own lives are a scene before the universe
...

(after Etienne van Heerden)

As a child he was taught that the judgement day of God would come,
of angels that do hold a laager of protection around him,
...

Where tiles and the roof meet each other
they did build a nest from grains of mud
to hold the small ones safe
and with the neat building work I am astonished
...

I notice the mechanical chisels jerking the road to pieces,
how the foreman pushes a hand under his helmet
then with a frown does look at a watch on his arm,
do roar out a command and the workers do smile from happiness
...

(for Annelize)

To me your name is almost holy
as if it has a very deep meaning,
...

In its age old sinful writing
as far as he goes,
his marks are carved into the sand
which he leaves just where he goes,
...

I ask that You do hold Your hand daily over me
where I string through the streets of the city behind other cars,
when minibus taxis try to run me off the road
and angry motorists do hang out of windows to curse,
...

(after Eugene Marais)

Leafless like skeletons stand trees
everywhere in a multitude filling the veldt,
...