On a Close-up of Louis Esterhuizen, on His Verse Novel “die onderwaterweg, ” (The Underwater Way)
So tell me Louis, you start your verse novel
of which the story line is very thin,
with a white man lying drunk and silent in hospital
after trying to commit suicide,
with memories taking him back
to events in his marriage with his white wife
who had been a left wing political activist,
where politics makes the marriage crumble,
rather than interpersonal relationships,
were marriages usually crumble
from a lack of communication
and respect for each other?
Where at times he is impotent,
where at times he gets it right,
where he looses her in consequence of a rebellious march
are cut from her leftwing circle of friends,
where she head over heels in the middle of the road
lift her dress; let her panties hang around her knees
where she has sex with a black freedom fighter
(how realistic this may be)
is pregnant with a child for Azania
while children in rags string along after her,
where they again sleep together
and he does not catch AIDS,
she is slaughtered in a pincher operation
or maybe by canister-shot
(again utterly unrealistic)
after which he buries her
along with her black friends.
On visits by a certain Jabula, fall in love with her,
he changes from white to black,
so much so that he takes a taxi to a hut somewhere,
where she is a labourer on a sugar plantation
where she makes love to him, they give life to a child
and I wonder if you want to draw this story
through to every white Afrikaner?
Especially where the main character in a prayer
to the almighty God wants to know
[...] Read more
poem by Gert Strydom
Added by Poetry Lover
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