Notes About The Situation In Our Country Poem by Gert Strydom

(in answer to Johan Steyn)

I. In the times that we live

In the times that we live
darkness sometimes gets the upper hand,
with tragic things happing in this country
while we still strive for a better place

we go into a life
where innocence is missing and we are off guard
stripped from opportunities and halfway beached
where we have to live in the bustle

where people are killed, tortured and robbed,
where the ruling party is singing inciting songs,
where we cannot decide on a plan of action
and even being humane is curtailed
while the harsh reality penetrates
that alone we cannot stop the overwhelming enemies.


II. During the night we hide in yards that are wired with electricity

During the night we hide in yards that are wired with electricity,
behind walls and steel palisades,
taking notice of the neighbourhood,
making daily adjustments to our lives

and when car hijackers strike at us on the road
we pray and hope to survive,
we let them just go on
while we are dumfounded by fear

and some of our family members and friends are tortured to death,
are raped and robbed while the police cannot stop these crimes,
but we encourage each other and tell one another
that every thing is all right and things are totally out of control,

but Satanists behead people
and there are criminals walk away from raping children.


III. People of our friends and family with qualifications are without work

People of our friends and family with qualifications are without work,
while it is now almost impossible to find something,
with jobs being restricted to black people by affirmative action
and so time passes, years pass

while impoverishment sneak in among white people,
with people begging and looking after cars on the street,
with hundreds of uneducated people getting jobs
and somewhere everything honourable

has been lost with time
while misfortune and decline is appearing everywhere,
we hear about the wretched lives of others,
people come with a confession

that life has caught them off guard,
with their existence only hanging on a thin thread.


IV. When we laugh it only hides bitterness

When we laugh it only hides bitterness
the blue sky, flowers in our gardens pass us,
we hear of some more Afrikaners dying on farms
and in towns and slowly but certainly the destruction spreads.

Out of despair husbands kill their whole families and themselves
(shot after shot resounds)
from them who still have firearms,
after the new laws.

The black government is afraid, that we will resist them
and arrests people left, right and centre
who they see as terrorists
and hold them forever and a day

while the planters of bombs
sit blessed in parliament.


V. There are some people that lay their hands on liquor

There are some people that lay their hands on liquor
and live as if everything is just for today,
they fornicate with the wives of others,
trampling their own people into the ground,

walk over each other to get somewhere in life
or to chase after money
and we live in times of great darkness
where love for the fellow man, awe and respect are missing

where children bear false witness against their parents,
(when they themselves do criminal deeds) ,
turning against their own culture, people and even religion,
using drugs, are fornicating while at school

and overnight our world has changed
to a place where crime and darkness has the upper hand.


VI. Even God is on sale

Even God is on sale
and people jump up and down in churches,
trying to feel the presence of God
in a experience religion

where everyone places his own things in the trolley
as it fits him,
grouping around somewhat in darkness
forgetting to consult the Holy Bible,

Jesus Christ is declared to be only human
and a relationship with him
by some is seen as absurdity
that only people with superstition do

and some wants to trample Satan himself under their shoes
while he is walking free next to them.


VII. Now we wonder from where this decay comes?

Now we wonder form where this decay comes,
while our world suddenly is turned upside down?
With the new government the school structure has been changed,
the cane has disappeared from the classroom, respect has walked out

and religion, the trust in an almighty God,
an own culture, the urge to follow own values,
to speak our own language and to retain a own identity
and the commandments of God has been systematically substituted

by human rights, children’s rights and the following
of a science where humans through theosophy
and new age doctrines are seen as equal to God
where man becomes a god in himself

and now suddenly we see darkness
when the darkness and decay is everywhere.


VIII. We cannot exist in darkness

We cannot exist in darkness,
we have the witness of our fathers, from a time when escape was impossible,
where God in a covenant Himself stood with them
and still everyone is protected by the mighty hand of God,

He draws His laager around everyone that fears Him,
who faithfully keep to the words of His holy word
and still we have got to be brave
in this time where we witness the destruction of our brothers

as God Himself stays true,
His kingdom cannot waver or crumble,
even when the thickest darkness folds around us,
nothing can wheedle us away

from the salvation that God is going to bring,
even if it looks as if darkness is stretching wider and wider.

[Reference: Kanttekeninge by ‘n vers van Brecht (Marginal notes at a verse of Brecht) by Johan Steyn.]