Gert Strydom Poems

(after Elizabeth Bishop)

The leaping spray that roar, the swishing fling
of surf and sand,
plays in and out as waves rush to and thro;
where it does stand
...

At times the thought that You know me too well
does unnerve me
as I do not constantly think about
love, charity;
...

Lord, never might I truly understand,
that God and man
You are both, but Your divine selfless love
does widely span
...

From Your own hands I get my daily bread,
You know my heart,
above living and dead You are supreme;
You know each part
...

Forever in and out the waves roll on,
poplars quiver
as the breeze time and again rushes through them,
the small river
...

At times it might look and feel if the young
are truly living, are really happy,
as if to them the whole world does belong
in their bliss, even in iniquity;
...

I am set to love God more than anybody
His principles, character lives in me
the very essence of love is such
that one cannot love a person overmuch,
...

When I see the wings of the darkness falling
with the last shadow flapping down,
while the light flees before the darkness of night
I want to feel you glance on me for moments
...

Your smile, your touch, your glance flowers in a
eternal spring,
there is a kind of radiance that comes
to everything;
...

(after Breyten Breytenbach)

In the darkness I got up
saw you in the rays of the moon
while the gulls was screeching endlessly outside
with some flying to the endless ocean
...