Ingrid Jonker – Selected Poems

/, Blesok no. 118/Ingrid Jonker – Selected Poems

Ingrid Jonker – Selected Poems

THE CHILD WHO WAS SHOT DEAD BY SOLDIERS IN NYANGA
I REPEAT YOU
ESCAPE
DAISIES IN NAMAQUALAND (1963)
PREGNANT WOMAN
I AM WITH THOSE
LITTLE GRAIN OF SAND
BITTER-BERRY DAYBREAK
YOU HAVE TRICKED ME
HUSH NOW, THE DARKLING MAN


I AM WITH THOSE

I am with those

who abuse sex

because the individual doesn’t count

with those who get drunk

against the abyss of the brain

against the illusion that life

once was beautiful or good or significant

against the garden parties at the temples

with those who poor and old

compete against death the atom bomb of days

with those numbed in institutions

shocked with electric currents

through the cataracts of nerves

with those who have been deprived of their hearts

like colour from the traffic light of safety

with those coloured africans dispossessed

with those who kill

because every death confirms anew

the lie of life

and please forget

about justice    it doesn’t exist

about brotherhood    it’s a fraud

about love    it has no right

AuthorIngrid Jonker
Translated byZoran Radicheski
2019-01-15T12:05:07+00:00 March 27th, 2018|Categories: Poetry, Blesok no. 118|0 Comments