The Voortrekker (In Answer To Tony Harrison) Poem by Gert Strydom

A track from a kraal
goes direct into the veldt
decked in blood
from the remains of cattle.

The sick Boer walks alone,
now abandoned of dog,
children, farm labourers
with a.303 rifle wavering in his hands.

Somewhere in dense green bushes
in front of him to the right
lions roar and at speed
one, two and three more
appear with tails flashing like whips.

The rifle is still wavering in his hands
but an expert eye finds the sight
with the trigger at his finger tip,
the exploding sound of bullet after bullet
are followed by a whack and some great roars
and the lions are no more

and like his fathers protected in God’s hand,
although outnumbered many times
by natives and wild beasts
stand a lonely believing man.

[Reference: Voortrekker by Tony Harrison.]