Najnowsze prace:
Gert Strydom, 14 października 2015
Hecuba
(after Petra Muller)
Who passes on the sidewalk she wants to grab,
wants to bite the postman’s arm right off,
motorbikes and bicycles she wants to catch
and every newspaper delivery man
and so the yard is guarded faithfully
from strange criminals that do sneak about and strange cats,
where she snarls at the dogs next door,
but when it’s full moon
she wants to get on her hind legs,
while she cries like a cruel wolf
while her head is jerked back
and there is nothing in the street that draws her attention.
[Reference: “Hekuba, die teef” (Hecuba, the bitch) by Petra Müller.]
Gert Strydom, 15 października 2015
It is a pitch-dark night
It is a pitch-dark night
as if sky is filled with tar
and just here and there I notice stars
and we cat-sneak around
in a dark enemy camp
right through some thorn trees.
The moon is not yet out
and I am freezing before
I pass through a bare open piece of veldt
and it’s as if the backpack
does not sit right
and the web belt is scraping against me.
Around us there are guards
that we have difficulty noticing
until one of them lights a cigarette
and the blue flame
does suddenly brighten his face
and he is just a few paces away
from where we are.
Suddenly we do notice
other guards, lights
and vehicles
that drives up and down
and when a light
suddenly is switched off in front of us
I can hear my own heart beating
in my ears
and we try
to melt
into the long grass
and are aware of a vehicle
that leaves a road and are driving into our direction
and we want to cock our weapons
but we are too near to
the enemy guards
and between two of them
when that vehicle
does drive up to them.
We leopard crawl
to the shelter of few bushes
to escape the light
of the vehicle
and we can swear
that they did notice us.
Carefully I draw the knife
out of my boot
and when the vehicle does stop
between the guards
we both we both cock our rifles
which we aim at the enemy.
One of the soldiers
who climbs out of the vehicle
walks right into our direction
and the lights of the vehicle
lets him look like an apparition
in the way
that he walks closer
and we both do know
that this is trouble.
The man gets still closer
and I can hear
his boots crunch
over the small bushes and sand
where he stops
between the two of us
and he has got to be a Cuban
as I smell a Havana cigar
on which he sucks enthusiastic
and the knife feels cold in my hand
while he does unbutton his pants
and he has got to be night blind
as he is not aware of us
while I smell the salty odour
of his urine.
It feels like an eternity
before he turns around
and talking in Spanish walks back
and the vehicle
does depart a while later.
Gert Strydom, 16 października 2015
Baby lies so fast asleep
Baby lies so fast asleep
that I dare not take her
into my arms,
too big the chance to wake her.
Rosy cheeks and a raspberry mouth
like a little angel, a sweet delight
but she’s someone else’s.
Sometimes at night
nothing can cuddle her tears away
and a shrill little voice
hangs in the air, piercing the darkness
cutting right until day
and those are the times
that mothers and fathers do pray.
Gert Strydom, 16 października 2015
A child is a strange thing
A child is a strange thing
that does take your most expensive books,
to stain them with his own drawings
and here and there words are twisted
and when that boy did find some of my first poems
he did write love poems for his girlfriend
and it was my own words with which he was wooing
that he did write down word upon word
and that file of mine was just gone
until I did find it beneath his bed
and to his mother those poems were inane, foolish and bad
but not for that child
and I wonder what he now does think of my verses,
if at times he still does place my words in his own ink?
Gert Strydom, 16 października 2015
Walls
(In answer to W.E.G. Louw)
We did receive this country as property
that we did rather live in
as to conquer with a flint lock rifle
and we came to the open wide veldt,
did erect walls
to hold out the enemy, the predator
and the baboon,
did create cultivated fields,
even at places
where crops do not really belong,
out of our own crops of maize, wheat
and cattle did live, did map down a piece of land,
until Ratel armoured cars, Olifant main battle tanks
and Mirage fighter planes
did have to stop the enemy that were surrounding us,
where we did won battle upon battle and did destroy the Cubans
and a bald headed man did bring about great calamity,
where his brothers cannot anymore eat a piece of own bread,
where he did create beggars out of the Afrikaner nation,
did forget of the right of existence of his own brothers
and all walls do decay
and foreigners from right over Africa do stream in.
[Reference: “Mure” (Walls) by W.E.G. Louw.]
Gert Strydom, 18 października 2015
I love you
More than words can say
are the feelings
that lies deep in my heart
and although you tell me
about the intensity of your feelings,
there are no words
that can carry mine to you
as I do love you
more intensely than the bright sun,
more than the grains of sand
that you can hold in your hand,
deeper than the bright blue ocean,
past the distance of the most far off star
and when you are close
with your arms wrapped in love around me
my breath is taken away
and it feels as if eternally
I can bind my life to yours
as I do love you
with feelings up to now unknown
and the glance in your eyes,
the smile on your face
has got a sparkle that goes right through me.
There is electricity every time
that your hand touches mine
and like two love struck teenagers we are infected
with something that no other people has got,
with passion that keeps starting afresh,
with a flame that can never be smothered.
Gert Strydom, 19 października 2015
The small redbreast sings and dances
The small redbreast sings and dances
up and down, up and down
while it is longing for the rain
and under the tree my two dogs are barking,
are jumping to try and catch that bird
and it’s a curious kind of thing
but the small redbreast is not disturbed
until the first lightning bolt comes
and great drops of rain pour down around him.
Gert Strydom, 19 października 2015
After the farm invasions in Zimbabwe
The violent dispossession of farms
in Zimbabwe
is seen by some people as lawlessness (1)
and that it only is the consequence
of ethnic and racial hatred that is present
where the state does collapse, (2)
where lawful authority does lack
and that nothing else is hidden
beyond those occurrences
but when you look deeper
into all of this
facts do come to light
that is utterly disturbing.
It is a known fact
that the ruler in Zimbabwe
that has been voted out but still does rule
Robert Mugabe
is a Jesuit (3) (4) (5)
in the Roman Catholic Church
and that church
believes in the natural law
as had been set out by Thomas Aquinas
in his Summa Theologiae (6)
and everywhere where the state and church
had been one throughout history
there had been grave danger
as during the dark ages
where people had been executed
for that in which they do believe.
According to this natural law
possessions like farms, houses
cars and even tools
is being seen as only
in the title belonging to the owner
but that the community
has got the right of the use of it
above the owner
and even the violent dispossession
of such property
by the community
is justified.
[Footnotes:
(1) “ná grond-invasions in Zimbabwe” (After ther ground-invasions in Zimbabwe)” by Antjie Krog.
(2) “There is one type of fear more devastating in its impact than any other: the systematic fear that arises when a state begins to collapse. Ethnic hatred is the result of the terror that arises when legitimate authority disintegrates.” Michael Ignatieff: Blood and Belonging – Croatia and Serbia.
(3) “The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu, S.J., SJ or SI) is a male religious congregation of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits.” O'Malley, John W., ed. (2006). "The Formula of the Institute (p. XXXV)". Jesuits 2 (2nd ed.). Toronto:University of Toronto Press.
(4) “Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born near the Kutama Jesuit Mission in the Zvimba District northwest of Salisbury, in Southern Rhodesia, to a Malawian father, Gabriel Matibili, and a Shona mother, Bona, both Roman Catholic. He was the third of six children. He had two older brothers, Michael (1919–34) and Raphael. Both his older brothers died when he was young, leaving Robert and his younger brother, Donato (1926–2007), and two younger sisters – Sabina and Bridgette.” Mugabe mourns reclusive brother". newzimbabwe.com. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 4 August2013.
(5) “Mugabe was raised as a Roman Catholic, studying in Marist Brothers and Jesuit schools, including the exclusive Kutama College, headed by an Irish priest, Father Jerome O'Hea, who took him under his wing. Through his youth, Mugabe was never socially popular nor physically active and spent most of his time with the priests or his mother when he was not reading in the school's libraries. He was described as never playing with other children but enjoying his own company. "Robert Mugabe: The man behind the fist".The Economist. 29 March 2007.
(6) The Papal Encyclical: “Rerum Novarum:” “Goods of some are due to others by the natural law. There is no sin if the poor take the goods of their neighbours. In cases of need, all things are common property, for the need has made it common. Not only is such taking of another’s property not a sin, it is not even crime. It is lawful for a man to succour his own need by means of another’s property by taking either openly or secretly, nor is this properly speaking, theft or robbery. It is not theft, properly speaking to take secretly and use another’s property in a case of extreme need, because that which he takes for the support of his own life becomes his own property by reason of that need. In a case of a like need a man may also take secretly another’s property to succour his neighbour’s need.” Summa Theologiae ii-ii 7th Article by Thomas Aquinas”
Poet’s note: This verse illustrates how easily man can make mistakes, where the church and state is one. Anyone who reads this verse as an assault on the Roman Catholic Church misinterprets it.]
Gert Strydom, 20 października 2015
There is a time when night sneaks in
There is a time when night sneaks in,
when the roof creaks, while losing its heat
when chairs, tables, cupboards and all objects
become indistinct
part of the darkness of the night
and then my love
it’s a magical thing
to have your hot body against mine,
to feel you’re lips brushing on my skin
to become enveloped by you
as if everything is away
in a different reality.
Gert Strydom, 2 listopada 2015
The fallen Cuban soldier
Your body lies shattered on the veldt
in the long rust brown winter grass
where you are almost devoured
and half burned
where you did fall out of a battle tank
when that deadly projectile did hit
and the blue sky, the wind that blows lightly at times
now has no impact on you
and scavengers will bring your bones to skeleton,
where you do have nothing left of life
and in Cuba the great leader will roll another fat cigar,
will draw his cheeks full in pleasure of it
and still your wife will remember you
while life does rush on.
Gert Strydom, 3 listopada 2015
With self contempt I stand in the veldt
(after Rudolf Otto Wierner)
With self contempt I stand in the veldt
and each heroic act
is just another task that destiny does demand
that does not make me greater than others
and the hunger to kill
flows on and forth
while war machinery
does sing in a deadly choir
and the rifle in my hands
that point to the enemy
is stripped from any language
but death that it brings about
and the knowledge does intrude
that still it brings destruction
[Reference: “Hungerblümchen” by Rudolf Otto Wierner.]
Gert Strydom, 4 listopada 2015
My small Jack Russell dog
My small Jack Russell dog sniffs around
on the ground
to find something nice to eat
or some other kind of meat
and a paper blows in the wind
but it does not bother her at all
where she is standing over something small
Gert Strydom, 5 listopada 2015
The crumbling man
It’s as if my whole life is breaking in pieces
and all around me I see some of the pieces lying
without the opportunity to do anything about it
as if the new government of the country
and destiny together
does tear my career apart
and from one contract to the next
I do jump
like pieces of a puzzle that are getting less
and when there are no more pieces
I am alone and extradited
as if nothing more
can fit into
my puzzle.
Gert Strydom, 9 listopada 2015
I do love Africa
I do love Africa
and although my predecessors
did pay with their blood
to be able to live here
there is no fear in me
even when shots were fired
as somewhere the signs of the white
is thundered into the ground
as if coming from heaven itself
and although some black rises
through the red-brown dust
and is present in drums
when indunas dance with their spears around fires
and although everywhere there are hungry people
that has been broken by poverty,
and people are praying for rain
while the desert is stretching wide
I still want to remain in my Africa
as after more than three hundred years
even if culture and language
leaves its own mark
we are without any colour
with the sand being blown by the same winds
and only people,
visitors to this
incredible continent
that does belong to all the children that she brings forth.
Gert Strydom, 10 listopada 2015
Photocopy machine
You lightning flash a moment
like a laser beam,
the image of my piece of paper
is taken off
and while you grumble
you spit it out at one side
and can make innumerable more
while most people view you
as a exceptional wonderful thing
but when you do get tired
and eat papers
people have to gut them out
from somewhere deep
in your intestines.
Gert Strydom, 11 listopada 2015
To be us
You are so much a part of me
that I do not have to remember
where you fit into my life
and are not able to forget
my feelings for you
and as each day passes
the small little things
brings us still closer
with feelings that are true.
Loving comes so easily
like rain falling from the sky
and the you and I
are truly blessed to be us.
Gert Strydom, 24 grudnia 2015
On Christmas
the shepherds did see
that night a strange star in the sky
where they tended their flocks roaming free
and flashing bright like lightning on the eye
an angel appeared in great glory
and afraid to die
they met the messenger from God
who brought good news to all mankind
and all men where brothers even the stranger
when the angel told them to find
a baby wrapped in clothes in a manger
who is Jesus Christ the saviour
and a multitude of angels did appear
while the song resounded on the ear:
“glory to God in the highest and on earth
peace to men on whom his favour does rest”
and the shepherds had great cheer at the birth
of the child who did love without self-interest
and round and round their flock did trot
where they had left them without care
to find the son of God and of man
in a stable round pots of earthenware
and so the world’s redemption began
while their great news they did share
and the world was different from before.
Gert Strydom, 27 grudnia 2015
You are my darling (sonnet)
You are my darling, my wife,
the one with whom I walk through life,
the one that is mine, my inspiration and hope,
the one that holds me tight against her breast
and when you are right against me, it is as if I do behold myself
in your gaze and at times I am stripped from my own conceit,
when we do have deep conversations with each other and with God
and I do wish that which you are for me would never abate,
that each and every day will just bring bigger understanding of each other
as you have grown into to me and are a part of my flesh
and I do know you, do know what you are thinking even before you do talk
as you are my magic potion, the best part of my life and my healing,
you are the one that have ideals of what I can become,
the one that creates a place of peace for me in a world full of hatred.
Gert Strydom, 4 marca 2016
When from me she is out of sight
When from me she is out of sight
in my innermost mind
her eyes do burn bright
and I do constantly find
some thoughts of her, of her great grace,
as if in the depths of my soul she does glow,
as if each expression of her face
I do intimately know
and yet at times it seems that I do know her not,
that knowing her breaks my heart and takes a lot
but still the emotions of her eyes
in my inner thoughts never dies.
Gert Strydom, 7 marca 2016
The things in a town
In a building there are people singing “Gloria in excelsior”
and it’s beautiful like a choir of angels
but I do receive a track that insists on my salvation
and the traffic light does change.
Around me people past in a bunch
and on the other side an old white man holds out his hand
with a “good afternoon to you, sir” he greets me
and just there tries to block my way.
A flower vendor tries to push a bunch of deep red roses in to my hand
and says “buy them for the madam”
while the wind is jerking on his thin shirt
“mister, she will really like the roses.”
Right at the home affairs building
a camera is lifted to focus on me,
a hand with a pen is held out
and I slip and almost do lose my balance
and right there I wonder about the things that are happening in this town,
I want to escape into the veldt,
do see everybody standing with a stretched out hand
or maybe I want to return back to my Pretoria.
Gert Strydom, 8 marca 2016
Lucifer at sunrise
I
From the place that he calls home
mighty Prince Lucifer rose
stretched himself out under the sky’s dome
while everything was still at repose
throughout the world men were quarrelsome
a flock of birds did past close
but to him no final defeat had yet come
and he tasted the bittersweet victory
of the Lamb of God being nailed to a cross
and from that day his life had been transitory
filled with small victories and great loss
as his revolt (the age-old story)
had come at a personal cost
as had been recorded by history.
II
For mere moments he stood in awe
caught by the perfection of the rising sun
but still in place was God’s character, His law,
while a new day had begun
and he remember how it once had been,
of all the beautiful and great things that he had seen,
how perfect, how matchless had been his life
but now by his freewill he was leading a life of strife
and new strategies was in every thought
but for all the chaos and calamity that he brought
the omnipotent power of the Son
was still helping everyone
while God was ever-present watching him as a tiny speck,
continually holding him in check.
Gert Strydom, 9 marca 2016
Kamikaze
(after Jan Swanepoel)
Behind me the sun shines blindingly bright
and the stormy wind devours along with me.
When I pull the lever to full throttle, my thoughts are clear as crystal
and I am not blinded by glory, patriotism and the will of God.
When I bind myself to the last moment of my life
it flashes past me like a movie in a bioscope,
the reason for my existence comes together in one endeavour:
to baptise the hellish enemy in destruction
and down I dive out of the cobalt-blue
past the crackle of heavy ordnance, past canister-shot
while I keep the aeroplane aimed precisely on the target
but for a last moment like the drawings of a great artist
my life is caught in a flaming death
to which all meaning does cling.
[Reference: “Kamikaze” by Jan Swanepoel.]
Gert Strydom, 10 marca 2016
I have not seen the spark of life
I have not seen the spark of life
and yet I do know that it does exist
as people, animals, trees and plants
are alive all around me
and all the secrets of love I do not know
but wherever I do look its compassion does glow
and God in His glory I have not seen
but still He does His goodwill on me bestow.
Gert Strydom, 10 marca 2016
Bus trip at night
In the winter outside it’s already dark
where we sit in the bus, ordered to a determined trip
and vague acquaintances from the daily coming en going do rise
while some others do dare loud conversations.
Outside a sickle moon hangs bright when the bus does brake
and your fingers do lock around mine and your eyes glitter like shining suns.
Your smile do entice a smile of my own and the worries disappear
where we are in a dungeon as slaves travelling between work and home
and strings of lights hang high and catch the eye,
as a enchantment to the cold city
but most of the people are grim, some somewhat sad
others are very tired and the bus does wobble on
roars up the hillock like an overeaten monster
that does vomit at the set bus stop.
Gert Strydom, 11 marca 2016
Life is a gift
Life is a gift, a chance to exist
and some people have been great
while others will be greater still
and we do shape our life as best we can
act out the roles
of father, mother, brother, sister, daughter and son,
find someone to hold as the dearest of all
but still human we are
when at times we err, we fall
and our dreams are shattered into pieces
but yet constantly we do try,
we do reach to the unknown
with something more
than just a flickering of hope.
Gert Strydom, 14 marca 2016
When I hold you tight
When I hold you tight
then I feel the depth of your trust
and I am aware of your heartbeat
as if every moment holds something deeper.
Gert Strydom, 15 marca 2016
Constantly I am astonished
Your beauty astonishes me constantly
when humility
does surround my whole life, shadows do fall,
with nobleness
you do become far more than just my princess,
oblivion
falls over the past when we do laugh together,
when I do yearn for each kiss from you.
Gert Strydom, 16 marca 2016
When the early the morning does begin (cavatina)
When the early the morning does begin
and you arise
my lady, the first doves do happy sing,
while the dew lies
on your garden’s most pretty flower cups
and in your eyes
with greatest joy golden the sun does shine
and forever I want you to be mine.
Gert Strydom, 17 marca 2016
There had been a kind of loneliness
There had been a kind of loneliness, a brokenness,
deep in your eyes,
a searching for greater meaning
and deeply moved
I wanted to bring something holy and honest to you,
with inadequacy
I did tattle when you did come right up to me
when with your loveliness I was moved.
Gert Strydom, 18 marca 2016
At this place I have been before (sonnet)
At this place I have been before
where life like a smashing breaking wave just thunders on
and I do not remember anymore
as all those old memories are now gone
but in your eyes there is a kind of light
that keeps burning bright
and you have been my own darling
(of that I am pretty sure)
as there is something familiar to you
and yet holding you feels somewhat strange
as if again our lives have been rearranged
but still our hearts and feelings are true
as if past time and memories they do now endure
and knowing you stays amazing.
Gert Strydom, 20 marca 2016
Soldier: yesterday
(in answer to Cornelius van der Merwe)
Out of the hell coming from stuttering Ak-47’s,
RPG-7 rocket grenades that destroy armoured-cars,
Stalin-organs that sing their deadly song,
T-55 tanks that circle in closer
men did return from the other side of the border
posthumous, wounded and bush-fucked
with every battle and the war won,
thousands of the enemy shot to pieces, killed,
their battle-tanks and armoured cars changed to scrap
so that even the Russian commanders realized
that against these brave men
they could not win.
Today these white citizen force soldiers
are seen by the government
almost as war criminals
and a monument had been built on a hillock
where they are not even mentioned,
where those that lost the war are esteemed highly
as the victors,
so as if history
can be turned back
by a corrupt black regime.
No revolution at Soweto, Langa and Nyanga
did force these Afrikaners to their knees
and in their God was their only salvation
against a vast majority of enemies and deadly weapons
in their fierce struggle,
but a bold-headed man (the leader out of own ranks)
did silently with his whole cabinet
walk over to the enemy,
and each other Afrikaner whose blood did flow
was betrayed and robbed from a chance of a existence
and around his head the Nobel price was hanged,
in his own glory, by himself being messianic
he was caught for long moments
as if he was bringing peace, while the death
of white farmers now circle out wider and wider
in the thousands.
[References: “En die omega” (And the omega) en “Soldaat môre” (Soldier tomorrow) by Cornelius van der Merwe.]
Gert Strydom, 21 marca 2016
Come to me
Come to me in the brightness of a day
or in the darkness of the night
and then let be whatever may
even if it seems wrong or right.
Come to me in the experience of a dream
and do compassion and love freely give
as there is much more to life than what it does seem
and with you I do want to constantly live.
Gert Strydom, 21 marca 2016
My heart has gone quite in me (Persian / Rubiyat quatrain)
My heart has gone quiet in me
and this is not from tranquillity
but from the sadness and all the hurt
that I do continually experience and see.
Gert Strydom, 1 kwietnia 2016
On my birthday
(after Christina Georgina Rossetti written for the 3rd of April)
My heart feels like the morning breeze
that whispers through the flowering jacaranda trees.
My heart feels like a redbreast that dances before the rain
and sings its song of gladness again and again.
My heart feels like the first light of the breaking day
that burns intensely with happiness in each ray
but much more intense than these images is my joy
with the feelings that are between a girl and a boy.
Let I pray blessings to those that love and hate me
and from the iniquity of the my youthful past be free,
let my family and friends come from far and near
as there is much more to this day than does appear
as I am a grown man in the prime of my life
with a angel, companion and friend as my wife
and let there be rejoicing on my known earth
as my love is with me on the day of my birth.
[Reference: “A Birthday” by Christina Georgina Rossetti.]
Gert Strydom, 3 marca 2016
How chilly like winter
How chilly like winter have you been
with emotions of love stripped in the bud
and what dark unpleasant experiences I have seen
as if what love had been between us had been cut
and nothing of the laughter and light that I had seen at a time
was left as if it had been killed by decease.
You are happy as when our love had been at its prime
when you do talk and act with a kind of ease
as if of those happy days there are to be many more,
as if you do not want to be from this relationship free,
as if I am the only one that you do adore
and I do wonder what is to be
while in my heart there is a kind of fear
when in the evening to me you do draw near.
Gert Strydom, 2 marca 2016
Some times
Some times I wonder if God only knows
how I struggle in the depth of my throes
to find the right clear words to express love to you
while I do take destiny’s blows
and even if I say with all humility
that you are far more than dear to me
my words are totally stripped
as if from all meaning free
and yet I do still try to write
as to express my true heart I might.
Gert Strydom, 1 marca 2016
I love you
(for my wife, Daleen on 25 February)
I love you to the depth of the most distant reaches of my soul,
in the innocent ways of a child,
to the places where understanding does end,
but also to the intimate need of a grown man.
I love you further than my life does go
and I love you in each day’s
simple and complicated experiences
and on this birthday of yours
where we have been together for five years
I wish to love you to the very end of my days.
Gert Strydom, 28 grudnia 2015
As if they are beacons
When the lightning did that night
flaming search the earth in blue-white branches,
mother did draw the curtains close.
On the porch I did see blue-white sparks running,
the rattle of some more thunder
did sound further away,
I could smell the fragrance of the rain
where fresh it did fume through the closed windows,
and early the power had been cut by the thunderstorm
and mother did open the Bible
at the light of a flaring candle
and did read of the rainbow
that comes after each rainstorm
and later the clouds were blown away,
while the doves did coo right through the night
and the moon did peep down from the heaven,
while I could see stars burning
as if they are beacons
that God had put into space.
Gert Strydom, 29 grudnia 2015
What fanciful lives we lead
What fanciful lives we lead:
being soldier, accountant, father and husband
and yet at night kneel at our beds
like small children
in trust to a creator God
always comprehending that we are nothing
but mere men.
Gert Strydom, 30 grudnia 2015
In this distant country
In this distant country
everyone wants to find
An own place in the sun,
and some people want to use force
to get a piece of earth
and want to drive away others
from their farms
and lives
but I do wonder where
a person can find recourse
where there is a place
in all of this
for you and me?
Gert Strydom, 30 grudnia 2015
South Africa is also my country
From birth I have been planted
in this country
and nowhere else
does lure me away from here,
even when being without a job
and affirmative action
does scale down my abilities to nothing,
I am not taken from this land,
where I still do talk my own language,
and I still do bend my knees
to the omnipotent Lord God
and even if I am astounded
by the clowns that do govern,
are astonished by the things
that happens in the parliament and in the country
it changes nothing
to me being a white South African
and they can give away their barbaric culture
free and gratis to other people
while I do stay with my own
and have integrity
and not even the whole Africa
can remove me from my country.
Gert Strydom, 31 grudnia 2015
Today people are not interested
Today people are not interested
in a creator God
and an angel that does protect with a flaming sword
while they are tied to the depths of evolution.
Even Jesus Christ to whom the Old Testament does point,
of whom the New Testament is full,
His death and the cross does not matter
according to some historic doctrines
and so called knowledge.
Still many people do believe that demonic powers do exist
while others wait on the Cosmic Christ (Satan) to appear
as if he is the saviour of the world
and in secret they go ahead with their works
while they do try to get rid of the Christ of the bible.
From the time of Simon Magus
agnostic doctrines come
and today theososofical people propagate their outlook
with views of blasphemy.
There are people that lecture at theological seminaries
at universities
almost like at sewers of blasphemy
do teach curates about a god outside of the bible
and still they do profess that they are Christians
while they do remove Jesus Christ as God out of the bible
with they break their bond and relationship
that strays away from Him.
Gert Strydom, 31 grudnia 2015
The old year
When I look at the unsettling things
of the old year
I do wonder how the New Year is going to look
and what kind of things it is going to bring?
or is my whole life twisted
through dark forces that do not abate
or is everything settled in the rays of a new sun
that reaches with its heat to the darkest places?
Am I like a leave that falls from a tree
being swept up by a wild wind
that blows wherever it wants,
that at times does fall and rise again,
when lightning bolts do ominous flash
and are bound to the power of destiny
when the last words come over my lips?
Gert Strydom, 31 grudnia 2015
For my darling, with New Year
At night when the darkness folds around me
and I do hold you tightly
I hear a swarm of mosquitoes flying away
and in dreams I do meet you again.
You are the one that I do love
as if from the beginning
you have been destined for me
and I do wish every beautiful thing
with joy that is braided into your days,
that the days that do come
will have love, bravery and peace
far past the days of old age
as everything that is lovely
I want to say to you.
Gert Strydom, 3 stycznia 2016
The marsh
African coots fly up black in the marsh
and long-tailed widow birds hang
somewhat tempting as if I can catch them
and I am startled as plovers do bombard me
but the marsh does tempt me past them
with a own unknown insistence
till where a Cape monitor peeps like a crocodile
and scared I run back, right across the maize field,
do drive away a group of baboons in my fright,
rock rabbits do run in all directions,
donkeys do stampede out of my way,
the dogs of the neighbours do howl,
the round gate does spin around
and I do not wake mother, as it is Sabbath.
Gert Strydom, 4 stycznia 2016
It had been a hell of spring with the sun hanging scorching
It had been a hell of spring with the sun hanging scorching,
with nature longing in the flowering season
for the rain that had not come and the days turned over and over
while everything did dry out in record summer temperatures,
while the heat did daily creep higher and higher,
while in the yard flowers and vegetables did continually wither
and on the plains cattle and sheep did die of the drought
while I was still praying for rain to fall
to the God of the universe
and at times the rain did pour down before the heat did come again
in a exhausting summer and I am astounded
that everywhere there still is life,
that buds did appear out of the earth
so as if God was secretly active.
Gert Strydom, 5 stycznia 2016
The secret room
In the big old white house against the hill
my mother had a pantry, a secret place
which she locked,
where she kept ingredients
for cakes, cookies, ginger beer
and all the lovely surprises that she made
and there were baking powder,
icing sugar, raisins, cherries
and dried fruit
and sometimes I would wiggle
the lock open
with a small piece of wire
and just looked at the shelves
with stacked things,
in the twilight of the room
trying catch the great smell
of everything around me,
but wouldn’t dare to touch a single thing.
Gert Strydom, 6 stycznia 2016
A room in the past
It is a kitchen with a big settee,
and big old coal and wood stove,
a big table where the whole extended family
ate great meals, sat chatting for hours
sounding to outsiders
like a riot
with a fire burning joyously
or only having comforting glowing coals
and at eleven in the morning, or four
in the afternoon
tea in porcelain cups, sometimes Swiss roll
or her own fruitcake
soaked in brandy
and baked to perfection was served.
It was a place where my grandmother
was bigger than life,
a lady born from Scottish ancestry,
but more an Afrikaner than me
with a true belief in the creator God,
where her love was a dazing light
till one sad night, leukaemia finished her years,
stripped her from me
while I was away at university
and the family
had never been the same again
like it was then
and suddenly that kitchen, that house
was stripped bare from furniture,
was painted and sold
and somehow I was the only one
who did not get
any last words from her.
Gert Strydom, 7 stycznia 2016
African September
Dawn now wakes me earlier each morning,
bringing light at a time
where a month a go there was only night
with a chilly breeze
and where the darkness
were like a blanket
spread wide over the garden, the houses
of the suburb
I now see the horizon getting grey
with the sun sneaking
slowly over it
and sometimes when I wake up
a little bit later
and pull the thick curtains open
and its already a bright sunny day
with a sweet freshness breezing in.
Gert Strydom, 8 stycznia 2016
Right against the morass
Forward I stride
in the mind’s swamp
immersing at places,
bogged down
in the damp mud
struggling on
treading were feet
had stamped before
through painful thoughts
and more happy ones.
Curtained off by swelling fog
rising all around me,
blotting out the copious flow
of the river of the soul
and the only thing
I am able to see
is the treads that I leave
below my feet, ever trampling on
through foul smelling, rotting weeds.
In front of me emerging
from all of this
a little hillock rises majestically
and I see hundreds of rock rabbits
running to and fro
along its slopes
and the nearer I get
the earth becomes more firm underfoot.
Orange-red aloes grow here and there,
Sugar-bushes with huge blooming Protea-flowers
are cupped in splendour in colours of red, white
and pink, scented sweet,
are all around me everywhere
as if I have stumbled
into a little piece of heaven
right against the morass.
Gert Strydom, 11 stycznia 2016
I see her dancing gaily
I see her dancing gaily
swirling the leaves outside
as if her spirit would forever be young
and although the autumn of my years
is all ready leaving its marks
I am still strong in body and spirit
and now a more mature man.
I see time creeping
into the corners of my body
and ever slowly chiselling
the features of who, I am
but still she embraces me
as if she’s part of the divine
with the knowledge of her ways
as if the entire world is mine
and yet sometimes I am cold
from her breath kissing my cheeks
and I realize
that I am turning old.
Gert Strydom, 12 stycznia 2016
As my eyes gaze into the dark night
I do not need stars to tell me
that my life, my destiny is written,
that somewhere someone reads
some thoughts of mine
and that everyone has a impact
on each other.
As my eyes gaze into the dark night
trying to see past eternity,
I keep looking for the light,
to see the presence of the One
that guides me.
Gert Strydom, 13 stycznia 2016
Long Beach
On long beach
we swam in the cold water
before walking up to the wreck
of the Kakapo
which were covered with sand
with pieces of rusting iron
sticking out
like a big skeleton
and a round semi-circle at the back.
The sand was soft
and white under our feet
with Chapman’s Peak and Noordhoek
towering up above us,
within walking distance.
Gert Strydom, 4 kwietnia 2016
A prayer (Sonnet)
(After Koos du Plessis)
Let me find a place of rest on this rough earth
that lies near to Your heart, as my best deeds do remain stained
and I do know the things that do draw me further and further from You
while daily I am involved in a fierce battle for survival.
Let me stay true step upon step in your footsteps
while Your wings do cover me continually
as every weak place in my heart I do know
and let Your life and your love become greater in me.
Lord, save me when from my own deeds I am lost once again,
at times perplexed do not know where to go
and when my own conceit and weakness do continually wound me.
Out of the depths of misery and pain You do continually come and fetch me
and all of my success, fame and what I do possess are only borrowed to me
while time does continually speed on with my shadow against the ground.
[Reference: “Gebed” (Prayer) by Koos du Plessis.]
Gert Strydom, 22 grudnia 2014
When I admire you (Rubliw)
Without
comprehension
you are when I admire
your beauty when you do makeup
but a small bit of a smile do linger
that does reflect your deep feelings
and the sun is setting
and the moment
is past.
Gert Strydom, 23 grudnia 2014
That you are beautiful
That you are pretty
the whole world knows
but you do not really realize it
and it’s as if you do not know of your own beauty
and the glances in every other eye
you do continually miss
and how we feel about each other,
that we are destined to be together,
how deep our feelings are,
that our worlds do fall apart
when we are separate
no other person does really comprehend,
not even your family,
or your friends that are becoming more and more
or even the postman that are bringing you letters.
Gert Strydom, 11 grudnia 2014
How strong do I love thee? (Rubliw)
How strong
do I love thee?
Together we belong,
much more than mere feelings could be
is each word and deed in the daily throng
and far beyond eternity
our feelings go along
being gently
and free.
Gert Strydom, 12 grudnia 2014
I do love you each day (Rubliw)
I do
love you each day
but the great loneliness
does possess a kind of deep ache
and when we are apart my life does halt
as if nothing good does remain
and emptiness is left
until you are
right here.
Gert Strydom, 6 marca 2015
At the forest path
Wild aloes, some proteas grow along the forest path,
some mushrooms are sprouting near to it
and doves sit cooing in trees as if in love,
the sky is hued with a deep blue
and a light wind rustles through the trees
like a new visitor coming to watch the picture perfect view
with the ocean lying far below, clearer than jade
your hand in mine, with sweet promises made.
Gert Strydom, 12 grudnia 2014
I miss you very much (Rubliw)
I miss
you very much
in the early morning
and in the afternoon still more
and in the evening heartache does sting
more than anything that I know
but still our love remains
wherever life
does go.
Gert Strydom, 24 grudnia 2014
Tonight the sky is cloudless and clear
Tonight the sky is cloudless and clear,
the stars shine bright and Christmas is near
and on a night like this the Savior was born
and although some people know pain and fear
the world is waiting upon a bright new morn,
upon a dawn when God will come
to take His own people home
and in the distance I hear a truck shifting gear,
a car breaking and blowing its horn
and people act headstrong and stubborn,
as if the tread of this world is worn
and I wait upon the Son of man and God
to bring a end to death and iniquity
and wonder how long it will still be?
Gert Strydom, 24 grudnia 2014
I want to love you more
I want to love you more
than contracts can bind
and in you I want to find more love
than this few words can say
and I want everything that happen between us
only to be free and natural,
to not only to bring memories but deeper meaning,
give colour to our existence
but much more than this
I want to build a life with you
without swallowing you up in it,
I want to embrace and hold you tight
and put every feeling into this gesture
and to know that you love me
pass time and experiences.
Gert Strydom, 12 grudnia 2014
How sadly I have been absent in this spring (Rubiyat sonnet)
How sadly I have been absent in this spring
while new sprouts and flowers were rising
when the loveliest hot days you have seen
and our love had been a struggling withering thing
and how stripped like winter have our lives been
without a hot summer day between
while our love should have been at its prime
as a plant that is with new growth green
and yet it was if there was in destiny no time
and to everything just the coldest deadliest clime
but in hope I am still waiting on you
to forgive every word and every kind of crime
that you do hold true to me
but does actually lie in your own insecurity.
Gert Strydom, 24 grudnia 2014
Sometimes I wonder if you know the Morse code
Sometimes I wonder if you know the Morse code
of my thoughts, my gestures
and even the meaning between the lines
that my words do broadcast
and if you carry it
as the clothing around your body?
Or if the dashes in my glances,
the dots of the times that I touch you
do leave sounds on your body?
Or are you too caught up in this old world
to notice anything
and is only when we do touch each other
that you are aware
of how much I really do love you?
Gert Strydom, 15 grudnia 2014
We are like two flowers (Rubliw)
We are
like two flowers
growing wild among rocks
and the wind and sun come and go,
the wet rain falls and lightning does flash down,
all the seasons of life does pass
and although I do care
days do run on
and on
Gert Strydom, 15 grudnia 2014
With you (Rubliw)
With you
forever seems
a very short distance
and long gone are the lonely days
while some enchanting moments do abound
and you do spin my life around
changing it in some ways,
even my dreams
to you.
Gert Strydom, 16 grudnia 2014
I had dreamt of you
I had dreamt of you
living in a world
where skies are always blue
and you loved me
with a kind of sincerity
and we had much joy
as just a girl and a boy,
had a kind of innocence
while our thoughts
whirled up like incense.
Your smile radiated like the sun
while you loved my like your only one
and our companionship was sweet
while butterflies fluttered at our feet.
You kissed me with sheer bliss
and there was magic in this
but I had to go then
back to the world of men
as promises I had to keep
and I was devoid of further sleep.
Gert Strydom, 22 grudnia 2014
A moment (Rubliw)
You look
in the mirror,
do wipe some stray hair right
and something is caught in the glance
as if the day depends on your own looks
and your glance moves away to me
in a short small moment
that lingers on
and on.
Gert Strydom, 16 grudnia 2014
If I cannot find you
If I cannot find you
as the ray of sun
among the splendours
that this world holds
then they are nothing more
than just empty colour and form.
If you are not there to love
then life has lost its meaning
and the world has just become
an empty place
and everything in it
has lost the essence
that it truly holds
If your love does not exist
then living is in vain
and the world
just a place full of pain
without any consideration
belonging or care.
Gert Strydom, 23 grudnia 2014
Morning
When the early morning rays
were caught in the sky
and it did look as if again
it would be a hot day
and the sun did change from red to white,
when trees did point fingers into the blue
and the fragrance of flowers
did hang like a cloak around you.
you did sit in the car with me
and your eyes did give away
numerous kisses.
Gert Strydom, 9 lutego 2015
Love is like a gentle smooth pond
Love is like a gentle smooth pond
and then life comes with its cares and pain
and love's ripple effect spreads far and beyond
and like drops of pure rain
It brings life and your shadow falls next to me
and the pond's surface does reflect you
and life with its complexity
seems far away and our feelings seem true.
Gert Strydom, 17 marca 2015
I believe there is a place called Zion (Sonnet)
I believe there is a place called Zion
that was prepared by Jesus, who is my Lord and my God.
where joy and happiness does without end go on
and through the trials and tribulations I will go dry-shod
and even if other people do think it odd
He has changed my heart that was as cold as stone
and even if I am laid beneath the earthly sod
by His blood for my sins He did atone
and I will see His loving face
when the Lord Jesus does come
in a act of amazing grace
from that great Zion to take me home
and now a love that is unequal and divine
Jesus has made mine.
Gert Strydom, 19 marca 2015
Hers is a clean kitchen
(a small ode to my wife Daleen)
Hers is a clean kitchen
with everything tidy in its place
while white dough, turns to bread
in the black oven
sweetly smelling and surely delightful
and in baking pans some more dough
is rising and in a little while
it will turn to baked rusks
and her darling hands
that cares tenderly
have played their part in life
with a gentle smile on her face
and the first sings of age
are just touching her hair
but from her glance,
love is spreading everywhere.
Gert Strydom, 20 marca 2015
The hotel room
The hotel room is eight levels up
and an interesting place
to find some intimacy,
to be alone as two people together
and the concierge carries out cases
touches his hat and leaves
and outside a battalion of umbrellas
are marching past
minutely small like playing dolls
braving the wet weather
and your Chanel perfume fills my head,
your smile goes right into my heart
and you are very pretty
and I am utterly lucky to have you
as a darling, companion and friend and wife.
Gert Strydom, 2 kwietnia 2015
Paintings and painters that come alive to me
I
As if he could break time into pieces
Salvador Dali did bend watches
where one hangs over a branch and another
is over a bodily thing and its as if time jumps back
while everything gleams very bright
with the open landscape in the background
and only a branch and a cupboard in foreground
so as if the white sun is climbing golden over it
and he did wonder what Gala would think
did forget for moments about the painting
but that energy did have its own power,
he poured a glass of wine to have with his cheese and bread,
did wonder if she knows of his love?
And he did put his hat on his head.
II
He did put his hat on his head,
saw the light of God falling through the window
and it was more golden in colour than just white
where he was exhibiting light and shadows,
and from it depth did just appear by itself
and the face was glowing almost alive
and was totally free against the black background
while he was caught, seriously riveted
by the art coming from his fingers
and he did wonder if God at the creation
did stand back from His great works, was astounded
with the earthly dome
and before the master gleams an image that cannot perish
while he paints with opaque paint.
III
He paints with opaque paint
is busy with a water-colour
where he does sit in the sun at the back of the yard
and tell me about the course of events.
To my astonishment it’s a landscape
of a misty dark wood
where a couple are wandering
with a small road that meanders in its simplicity
Those later runs into gigantic trees
with bright flowers still fresh
with drops of dew and big splashes of sunshine
that burst hot through at some places
with drops hanging on the trees on the bright day;
while the whole world is laughing at him.
IV
While the whole world is laughing at him
its as if God Himself is taking his hand
in every line, every colour that splashes down
while everybody does not care about his art,
not even the great beauty of the starry night
and when he paints sunflowers his tears are flowing
when voices, people do stain his life
and he paints the most beautiful things,
perfect picture upon perfect picture
and its as if he is expecting nothing that is good,
the darkness grows in his soul while he dresses,
when he chops off his ear, does disfigure his face
and tired he stands alone against a force majeure
when my eyes do enter that sombre room.
V
When my eyes do enter that sombre room
it feels as if I was walking on the cool wooden floor,
and about this painting he maybe is shy
as if it is personal when I walk closer.
The small table next to the bed is loaded
with painted clay pots, a bottle of wine and a glass,
paintings hang on the walls almost up to the ceiling
while light comes in through the yellow curtains
that brings warmth to the earthly room,
the purple walls do stand out
along with the bright red blanket of the small bed
and I cannot understand any gloominess
while I see him stuck in his thoughts in a wheat acre
with the hot sun burning without any mercy.
VI
With the hot sun burning without any mercy,
he wears a straw hat to block the bright rays,
at times does shade his eyes with his big hand
and paints with masterly form and balance.
It is God’s wheat acres and cypress trees
that he becomes aware of there in front of the mountain,
monsters that suddenly appear like in dreams
do come as great storm clouds in the sky
with two bushes and some tress half blown to a side
the wheat acre is so yellow, the seed so ripe
that in his fingers he can turn the grains of wheat out
and against the bright light he has to close his eyes
while the wind blows where he is painting and at times it does annoy him
and alone I see a figure standing, minutely small.
VII
Alone I see a figure standing, minutely small
against the catastrophic evil that waits like a lightening bolt
that is ready to bash down, but is still hidden
while a unearthly texture or something is breathing in your neck
and its as if total destruction is waiting,
is focused on everything living,
is hidden in a somewhat evil power
that wants to strike as a kind of judgement
in that forbidding environment,
as if the mountain is going to exploded in mere moments,
in lava or with a earthquake
will bring everything back to pieces of dust
and there is evil jumping out of the painting
as if he could break time into pieces
[The paintings: I: “The Persistence of Memory” by Salvidor Dali, II: Ectched Self-portrait of Rembrandt with his hat on by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, V: “Vincent’s Room” by Vincent Willem Van Gogh. VI: “Wheat Fields and Cypress Trees” by Vincent Willem Van Gogh. VII: A landscape by Hercules Pieterszoon Seghers]
Gert Strydom, 2 kwietnia 2015
Precious Jesus, take my hand (Rubiyat / Persian quatrain)
At one of the great precipices in life I do stand
and I ask: “omnipotent Jesus, take my hand,
lead me with Your great unending love
all the way to that blessed Beulah Land.
Gert Strydom, 5 kwietnia 2015
A conversation with God
Everything that I posses does not belong to me
but is a sign of Your love and great mercy
and even all my great and good deeds
do not make me free of Your crucifixion or of blame
and even though I do possess fame and respect,
that which I can become
is only the blessing that You do pour down upon me
and all of my existence,
even the most brilliant thoughts in my mind,
that which do carry meaning for me
You my Lord, do provide before I can ask for it
and does only come as a gift from Your hand.
Your great care is wherever I am
and You do regard everyone that I meet as Your own child.
Gert Strydom, 6 kwietnia 2015
When I do comprehend (sonnet)
When I do comprehend
the painful and humiliating cross
that brings to sin and suffering an end
then any other great thing is at a loss
and when a love so deep and divine
does become my very own
and Your selfless life becomes mine
then there is more grace than that which I have known
and then I do understand that although You did say:
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do,”
You did also forgive the ones that knew on that day
and your mercy and love goes through
any barrier that life and destiny can bring
and that knowing You is amazing.
Gert Strydom, 7 kwietnia 2015
Anne, at the window
Somehow I see you peering
right through the window,
thought struck looking at the sea
in the distance
and I wonder what is in your mind?
If you remember the times
that the two of us
were young and in love
and it feels as if an eternity
has been spend since then
but there’s something in your gaze,
that is truly beautiful and far past pretty,
some serenity shrouding you
and I wonder if you sometimes miss me
as much as I had missed you once?
Anne, at the window
the new morning is dawning
and the sun is romantically red
and the mountains and sea
is in the distance
and you are looking very lonely
and I wonder when
someone will again your smile see?
Gert Strydom, 17 marca 2015
The barn
The smell of baled cut hay,
cut cornstalks, fuel from drums
the hot tractors cooling down
and in the semi-dark the hoard
of farm implements,
with a cold cement floor
under your bare feet,
to me it was like Aladdin’s den
a place where useful magical things
of great value were stored.
Gert Strydom, 16 marca 2015
Even if you life is ravaged by sin
Even if you life is ravaged by sin
and you do not know where you do fit in
God’s love reaches out to the depths of the heart
and causes a new life to begin.
Gert Strydom, 13 marca 2015
Time held me
(After Dylan Thomas)
Time held me
while I was still young and green
not yet knowing the man
that I was destined to be.
Time held me
while I was forced into war,
even before by law I could drive a car
and from the military
I though I would never be free
and even in every victory
the tentacles of death
had destruction to the inner core.
Time held me
when I went to study at university
met a girl and fell in love
with someone really pretty
and the summer, the sun
the beach and sea
seemed like a lot of fun
as if my life had only just begun.
Time held me
while she had eyes green as the sea
but I did not then see
that destiny had its chains
clasped around me and from it
I would never be free.
Still time is holding me,
clasping my spirit, my body and soul
and while the winter is setting in
it still sometimes feels
as if life has only just begin.
[Reference: Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas. “Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.” Dylan Thomas.”]
Gert Strydom, 24 lutego 2015
The lightning falls with the rain
The lightning falls with the rain
with a thundering sound
and something of its essence does remain
within the ground
and there is life within every living thing
while new buds does appear in spring
and from early morning the sun does glow
when the Lord does His goodwill bestow
and yet my love you are away from me
while I do experience nature’s bountiful beauty
and in my heart there is a kind of pain
while I do not know where my life is going
but still the tokens of our love is all around
while nights and days does into each other flow.
Gert Strydom, 2 marca 2015
You burrow into my heart
I
You burrow into my heart
are up against the embankment of my goodwill
and it feels as if we will never be apart
as if you do not bare me any ill
and there is only ground and hard skin
set between the emotions of love that does remain
while you are centring in
with all the heartache and pain
that comes with life as it daily goes
and at times you do feel much to close.
My resistance is weak,
while I am trying to protect my own humanity,
are trying to regain my mental capacity
and I wonder what you do seek?
II
You are rubbing me mad,
are turning love into lust and desire\
and at times I am glad and other times sad
while you are driving to be one
with my central core,
are trying to secure me before I am gone,
are burning me with a kind of fire
that can destroy and also make whole
that needs and wants just more and more
and I see you eyes peering into my very soul
while I wonder if this is how love really is
and find something deeper in each and every kiss.
Gert Strydom, 3 marca 2015
Lord
Lord, teach me to like a child cling to Your fatherly hand
and Lord, send your angels to daily guard over me,
to walk ahead on the way that I still do have to go
and teach me to trust on you unending love and
Gert Strydom, 4 marca 2015
No God has ever love as much as this
No whip has ever lashed
such an innocent man
who did choose to suffer punishment
as the Lamb of God
where He could have called upon
legions upon legions of mighty angels
to come to His aid.
No nails have ever pierced such mighty hands
that created all that is,
that controlled the wind and waves
brought healing, food and life
to mortal men.
No thorny crown was ever set
on a more noble head
as a mockery to being king
while He is and had been the Lord of lords
and even can wake up the dead
and His kingdom is everlasting
No God has ever love as much as this
and made the punishment of all sinners His
and soon in the clouds he will come
to take us to our eternal home
and with my own eyes I will see
His love and great mercy.
Gert Strydom, 15 czerwca 2015
Like a cat you lay curled up against me
Like a cat you lay curled up against me
and your arms do surround me,
are like shoots around my body,
one hand is on your buttocks
and sleepy you move nearer to me
so that the points of your nipples
are pressed into me
and your smell fills my nose,
your breath blow against my neck
when you draw my still closer to you
and sleep does take us away from each other.
Gert Strydom, 9 marca 2015
I see some shadows everywhere
I see shadows everywhere,
one fallow me
but the rest
just image off the things in my life.
Still love fills me
and is now more than just
another thing leaving its mark
since it’s part of every word and deed.
Gert Strydom, 11 marca 2015
How eagerly I want to share my thoughts with you
Eagerly I want to share my thoughts with you
of things far past just imagining,
of things that lay so deep in my heart
that I do not always know how to express them
and I want to tell you about the depth of my love for you,
and tell you of that which lays inside me
but it’s as if time passes far too quickly,
before I can share the essence with you
but do know this:
that our love which is so intense in my heart
brings holiness, nobleness and purity to every thought
and does go much deeper than mere meaning
and that I do struggle to find the words
for the unsaid things that our love does confess.
Gert Strydom, 12 marca 2015
When the night takes you away
When the night takes you away,
drags you deep into sleep
how is it then for you?
Are we still walking together
like those who are wooed on the beach
with your hand finding mine,
are we blinded by the breeze on the beach
that goes whirling around us
or are we again etched off like those that are single
in a dark gloomy sketch
that you draw with a pencil
with the darkness that swallows me?
Here I am and not even far away
and are not locked into a monastery
and I do remember you
where you are part of me
as if your humanity
is tattooed into my thoughts
and in the depth of the night
I do wonder about you, about your dreams
if I am also in them?
Gert Strydom, 8 kwietnia 2015
If you remember me
If you remember me when I am gone,
when life is mine no more
then shut all bad things,
all unpleasant thoughts of me
like you will a closing door
and let it be like the first time
that we have met
when every thing between us was new
and let I be to you
the things and words that made you smile,
and remember me for just a little while
with no sadness or pain
and let things remain between the two of us
as it was when you loved me best
and then forget me
and let me rest and have tranquillity
while my words still live on
as parts of me while I am gone.
Gert Strydom, 22 października 2014
Arrival
When the aeroplane does descend
at Jan Smuts airport
(or whatever they now call it)
lights lie as far as I can see,
they glitter like jewels in the night
and there is a hodgepodge of people
that waits upon their luggage
and I am waiting on a briefcase and suitcase
but when you do notice me
everything fades away, the big city
that does stretch from Johannesburg to Pretoria,
the crowd of people that are coming and going
and it’s only you and I standing in each other’s arms.
Gert Strydom, 14 listopada 2014
We sleep together
We sleep together
with your stomach and breasts
touching my back,
later stomach to stomach
with your arms wrapped
around my body
and in the morning
you enjoy a plate with fried eggs,
toast and tea in bed
and bright-eyed reserve
some sweet kisses for me.
Gert Strydom, 17 listopada 2014
King David
The women sing
David has defeated Goliath of Gath
and the Philistines flee
when David is king
as they are scared that he is going to obliterate them
and David and his Israelite army is formidable
as a omnipotent God is guarding him
with whom at times he deliberates
and God says to David: “you cannot build my temple
as on your hands there is blood”
and ten thousand men fall before him,
ten thousand men and many more
but David has got remorse over his ways
and stays trusting the decrees of God.
Gert Strydom, 18 listopada 2014
The garden of my heart
The garden of my heart
is empty when you are gone
and its as if every plant
that I have in it does perish
and although
I do give great care to everything
something essential is missing
and I bring everything to inside
and wait like a winter
on a new beginning
and it is as if the sun is away
and as if the frost
does extend deadly cold fingers
while you are missing.
Gert Strydom, 19 listopada 2014
The ultimate question
The ultimate question:
what is love,
why does it exist
and why sometimes not?
Or was it life?
It all depends on how you look at things:
by the heart or scientifically.
Gert Strydom, 20 listopada 2014
Death
To some people death comes serene
but I have seen it coming
with great fear and pain
as a unknown something
wiping clean life’s scene
shattering the lives of those still living
again and again
and yet to some it comes silently as a sleep
while in its dark mysterious phantom some does weep
as still nearer and still nearer it does creep
as a end to things and to life
or a interlude to a new beginning
of that which lies unknown.
Gert Strydom, 21 listopada 2014
On the other side of known reality
I
On the other side of known reality
there is a dimension that threads the world bare
and far away of the natural conversance and knowledge
reality is fabricated
and outside the terms of time
there is a place where another reality begins
and on the other side of midnight
time is totally lost
and somewhere in the late night
the subconscious tries to reach to it
and in dreams does built a magic carpet
that can find a bridge to it,
to a world that suddenly does appear
but usually with daylight does again wear out
and does disappear away into the nought.
II
Sometimes however unknown objects are seen,
people witness lights in the sky that does blind them
when unknown forces work in on nature
and people do believe
that other space beings want to find them
and others do want to measure energy fields
as proof that other foreign entities are on this planet
and its as if they do know something about these strange things,
are trying to do scientific research to unknown knowledge
but it is know that a great war rages each day
between Michael’s angelic host
and the evil demonic forces of Lucifer
and sometimes the war spreads far and wide
and man stays caught in the middle of it,
when words and actions
lets the destiny of each human being
hang in the balance.
Gert Strydom, 24 listopada 2014
On another earth
On another earth
in another place and time
you will again be mine
but while your adult offspring
try to run your life
our marriage lays in shatters
and from their birth
they acted as if being divine
but to me they are without spine
and still the birds outside do sing
while all around me there is strive
and to them it does not really matter
but on this world you are heartbroken
while everything with meaning is falling apart
and the hurt lays unspoken
as a cruel kind of art
that you do not deserve
and to nothing there is any method, reason or rhyme
while the clouds of destruction are gathering
and although we are apart you are still my wife
and your children do gather
in their own kind of celebration
while I keep praying to the Lord of creation
to intervene but He is hidden in the shadows,
stays totally unseen and life moves on
and from my life you are gone.
Gert Strydom, 21 października 2014
Far away
I am jealous on the friends,
colleagues and children
that is daily with you
and even your two dogs
that holds you company
in the afternoons and evenings.
I am jealous on the beach
where in summer
you lay and tan
and on the bed
where both your sheets
have got you tightly against them.
It is quite a thing
to be without money
and more than a thousand kilometre away
and to love.
Ostatnie komentarze:
18 maja 2024
kb
jakoś kojarzy mi się z "siostrami wielkiej
18 maja 2024
no chyba że pomieszkuje
18 maja 2024
zdaje się że nikt tu już nie mieszka
18 maja 2024
bardzo
18 maja 2024
orzeźwieni... prawie jak otrzeźwieni... i to
16 maja 2024
violetta
Może w lipcu będę miała takie wakacje:)
16 maja 2024
jeśli tylko
słońce w płynie..
15 maja 2024
Weronika
Za jeszcze jeden rejs!
14 maja 2024
Mam takie oko :)
14 maja 2024
Jaga
Zwierzęta upodobniły się do koloru otoczenia
14 maja 2024
To naturalny suchy i pustynny klimat. I tam są
14 maja 2024
Klimat taki, że nie był i raczej nie będzie,
18 maja 2024
kb
17 maja 2024
Deadbat
16 maja 2024
violetta
16 maja 2024
Marek Gajowniczek
15 maja 2024
Jaga
14 maja 2024
violetta
14 maja 2024
Misiek
14 maja 2024
Arsis
14 maja 2024
Marek Gajowniczek
13 maja 2024
Arsis