|
|
THE NEW BLACK SOUTH AFRICA
by Shirley Friedman
This country's finished
Said my neighbour's maid.
I'm tired of being so afraid.
Apartheid was better than this,
The murders. Massacres.
Life was bliss
In comparison.
Peace will never come.
How can black ever live with white
In harmony.
My brother tells me how it is
In the new Peace Force.
Shattering.
Sharp.
Voices raised
In dissent.
Always harping
On our differences.
And what will I do now my madam's left?
My heart is sore.
I am bereft.
The child I carried on my back
In another country now.
And who will look after me?
Her lips trembled,
Her eyes grew red.
She wrung her hands,
Hung her head
Shaking it from side to side.
Feeling deserted. Disturbed.
Unhappy. Off keel.
Unable to believe the change in her life
Was real.
There are many out there
Who feel this way.
What will happen to us now?
Where will I stay?
Is their cry.
In many ways they were
Comfortable in their environment.
And now they are to be cut loose,
Cast adrift.
Without their white protectors.