I Love Namibia Poem by Louise Tredoux

Don’t know any German, but I used to sing with my
compatriots “Und sollten man uns fragen, was
hält euch denn hier fest, Wir könnten nur sagen
wir lieben Süd-West”, it is hot, it is dry, old wrecks
adorning the sand on the beach, a ghost town
or two with walls caving in, dunes where the wind
sometimes sighs, sometimes sings, this is the thing:

I love my own country, I love my own place,
I love the Damara, I love their version of life,
their view of things, I love Riemvasmaak and
old trackers with dried-leather smiles on
weather-beaten faces, with tyres for shoes,
making music on home-made instruments,
playing the marimba, a mouth-organ, an
accordion

While the sun’s beating down on a happy throng
in colourful clothing, blooming like exotic flowers,
creating a country unique on this earth, making
a special place where time’s standing still…