Published June 25, 2020
Composer
David Wein
Ranbow snake 2
Brace yourself
This is what
You chose
To feed
breath.
It will be over soon
It will not hurt as much as you think
And it is coming for both of us
In time it will come for all of us
All us wondering through
The cracks between ideals
Looking for a way in
Always looking for a way in, desperate,
But now,
Well
The rainbow snake is gentle
And that revolution
That is bleeding now,
Bleeding Armani cadres
And crab-bucket communities
Intent on cannibalizing the new dream,
In pieces
That revolution
Which is Molotov cocktails
Poured into champagne glasses
And sipped slowly
By thieves dressed in
The discarded snakeskin
Of that which made them possible
That revolution
That is lonely now
It needs us
And the rainbow snake
That has for generations
Wept martyr’s blood from rainbow irises
That has not seen any evil
Greater than the closing of eyes
Against the glare of
The screams of
Innocence burning,
Is hungry now
Feed it.
Here it comes.
Slowly, deliberately
Inevitably
it will find us
Or we will lose
Ourselves
So why struggle?
Give yourself lovingly
As it has given lovingly of themselves
As it has breathed riots into campuses
As it has roared through teargas
As it has wept over vlakplaas
And carried our fallen
Into the dreams of the those who caught
The spears of retribution
As they slipped from the limp dead hands
Of heroes born as we were
To be remembered
And we will be
When the revolution and the rainbow snake
Are done with you
You will be but bones
Thrown by the hands
Of the twin witches
Fate, and hope
Each as cruel as the last
And where you land
We will read
The fortunes of this nation
That was built on raised fists
Those fists that beneath the concrete ambivalence
If you put your ear to the ground
You can hear pounding still
Raised in protest at a sky that dare not forget them
Them the voices of the people
That split the air
And hoped freedom would pour from the rifts
Be strong
And face them with courage
They walk with you
As the rainbow snake rears above
The rivers of blood and gold
That we have suckled on
We the ungrateful children
Of a world whose teeth we had thought blunted
And now find as close to calamity
As we have always been
We sandcastle architects
Cursing the tide
As if it were not of us too
All that is will crumble
To choose where the rubble will fall
You must step forward
And reach in
As we both must now,
Come.
They are ready for us
Do not be ashamed
It is normal to tremble
To fall to your knees
To scream if there is strength in your lungs
I certainly intend to
But remember
You were born
To feed them,
Rejoice.
Listen to me or don’t
Doesn’t really matter
I’m speaking to myself really
Don’t look shocked.
Did you think I was different to you?
Stronger?
Already resolved?
I am not.
I am as scared as you are,
And as lost
As lost perhaps as you need to be
To find yourself,
Certainly lost enough to find myself here
But not so lost I don’t regret
What I’ll lose I can’t forget
Please forgive me as I take this step
And join me,
I don’t want to do this alone
Felix Kobina Venter is an aspiring poet, writer and lyricist. He is currently studying at the Wits School of Film and Television. He has showcased with W.O.W, slammed on the Word n Sound stage and taken part in streaming events for Pick Me Up Poetry. He is just getting started.