(On the massacre of South African miners.)

By Raphael D’abdon

Walking to school
in marikana
i have seen black children staring
at their fathers’ lifeless bodies
on their way to school.
stale blood clots under their
perfectly polished shoes.
at school
all the teachers were in their place.
cosatu did not call no general strike.
what for?
the english teacher was crying.
the math teacher was drunk, as usual.
the history teacher spoke about the new constitution.
the geography teacher spoke about the richness
of south africa’s soil.
in the nymex
the platinum futures shot up
to unprecedented levels,
still
most kids at lunch break
had no food in their scaff tin.
with empty stomachs
they all sang nkosi sikelel’,
then went back home.
their fathers’ corpses were still there.
just a little colder.

(19 august 2012)

– Raphael D’abdon is an Italian poet and scholar of post-colonial studies, living in South Africa. This poem was contributed to the PalestineChronicle.com.