Litnet

"In Knysna, his elderly parents were getting a divorce. His sister was moving house to London with her daughters and accountant husband. Yes, everybody they knew was moving up in the world. He met Nick in Tampa."

"in a seeming miracle of survival
a land where the rushing waterfall plummets into the Zambezi"

"State plans still dressed in torn overalls of parliament
Bullet speaks louder than ballot"

"Something is birthing
a nameless malady ..."

"The grandchildren’s mouths battling to form the words
they have unlearned Afrikaans
they do not know the somersaults the tongue can perform with the Taal"

"On my way to work this morning, I drove behind
an old Jaguar, the same one Dad had mentioned
was his dream car."

"... the drumbeat
will remind you of the debt 
of being awake."

"... my eyes were tired
from the glare of dark men"

"I choose a leatherback
with whimsical face
and remember
that turtles are our myth"

"and the footsteps of the people with jobs
hurrying past the sleepers"

"[Y]es, just about anyone can write, often must write – it’s an urge, a need. Anyone can put words on paper to give expression to something."

"the cloud-mark of your plane
leaves its path of entrails
across our continent ..."

"And there, before it levels out
to pebbles, sand, more gulls, crushed shells,
the nasturtiums spread their green-and-spice ..."

"Not many visitors come to the farm,
but the sudden rain has charmed
a festival of frogs out of the mud ..."

"I was only eight when we moved into this apartment. That was five years ago. I remember being excited at the thought of living in a new place."

"jy is ons ineenryger van asem                  
jy is ons ineensnoerder van stem         
jy is ons ineen alomheen"

"If you arrive at my window ..."

"For days the dog was subdued and miserable. It lay in the kitchen, not eating, but occasionally sighing through its nose."

"Forgotten honey and milk ..."

"when we call, our voices
dissolve, across the water,
in Vietnam, a giant soft-shell turtle ..."