Tracks (In Answer To A.G. Visser) Poem by Gert Strydom

Lord, as a child I looked
at the tracks of the Voortrekker wagons
that was cut into rock banks

where they trekked over the hillocks
near to Heidelberg
in the once inhospitable region

on their journey to freedom
away from the undesired
British rule

and those tracks that are cut in, stays with me
and also the costly price that was paid
to have a own place
that the British wanted to deny us from

and now again we are oppressed,
with another hand that has the whip,
we are stooping under impoverishment,
we are trodden upon

l’Envoi
and I pray that You almighty God
preserve us; hold Your hand over us
even over every human law

tread tracks with us,
walk every day everywhere with us
and that we will get Your Godly help

for this whole country
and that we will only trust in You
as the urge to be free
is rendered by You Yourself.

[Reference: Vry! (Free!) by A.G. Visser.]