Gert Strydom Poems

The red breasted dove swooped
over me
and giddy eyed
went to land
...

When I drive through Laingsburg
I wonder why people build houses
in a water-basin,
but who expects
...

I am just a normal guy
who wants to make a living
and I went to university to study
but what is the value of it now?
...

The peace cannot last
and it’s already ruined
as if war like a lightning bolt
is looking for a place to strike.
...

Suddenly policemen surround me
standing around me in a circle
with hands taking hold from the back of my pants
handcuffs locking around my wrists and tightening twisting.
...

I would rather believe in waters
that are offered without a price,
that quenches the soul, than like others
in a Godless world and a harsh and stark demise.
...

(with apologies to A. E. Housman)

I promise everything: to friends or art
and what will end, had to begin
...

(with apologies to A. E. Housman)

He could not stay with me; and it’s getting me under.
He could not stay with me and I am amazed at his gaze,
...

My darling has got tiger eyes,
my most beloved has got semi-precious stones
that sometimes shines gleaming
as if a golden colour
...

The sea is lost in your eyes
and sometimes there is a kind of green
that shines right through the dark brown depths
in a secret kind of beauty,
...