C.J. ('Jonty') Driver

DROËWATERVAL (on the Swartberg Pass)

Was it ever thus, the waterfall

Where water never fell?

Did we expect too much, who hoped

That all might share abundant gold?

The baby-faced assassin in a suit

Giggles on his throne;

The policemen wave aloft their whips.

Burn the books; they tell too many lies.

My ancient friends who manned the barricades

Must shrug their shoulders now;

They fear that what we won is lost again.

Who would have guessed that it might come to this?

Dit is wat dit is. It is what it is.

(from STANZAS, No 1, September 2015)