Gert Strydom Poems

Doves fly from sunrise
until late afternoon past in pairs
and the whole day their singing resounds
...

You smashed the small granite table down
like a mighty war hammer
cleaving the coffee table in two
which I had made for you,
...

On guard duty I hear boots crunch,
walking up and down
almost in a march.
On guard duty I hear boots crunch,
...

Long, long ago there were two people (just you and me)
and to my remorse my life was empty without you
and I couldn’t get you out of my heart.
...

There’s a chilly wind blowing this morning,
the black-collard barbet
flies into my study’s window
as if it can go right through it,
...

Like a ghost somewhere from a tree,
sometimes from the roof
it calls out and people shiver
believing that death
...

At the Gxara River in the Transkei
a pool between some trees and flowering plants
is linked with one of the most emotional
and painful stories in history.
...

The first time I wed
it was in Parrow church
since it was bigger
than the one in Belville.
...

Between yellow cranes groaning and bended
I saw people small as ants,
I saw people gather at skeletons of steel and concrete,
...

So tell me Anthony you start
your wailing against the gods / God
with the sketch of a man gone mad
...