Terwyl ons regmaak vir nuwejaarsvierings, kom ons af op ‘n uiters gepaste vers deur die Franse digter Charles Baudelaire. “It’s the hour to be drunken! To escape being the martyred slaves of time, be ceaselessly drunk. On wine, on poetry, on virtue, as you wish.” Vier verantwoordelik fees! Ons sluit ons poësie-vakansiereeks af met twee gedigte deur Raphael d’Abdon. Sien julle in 2015!
sunnyside nightwalk
Raphael d’Abdon
a rusty lamp throws a weary towel over the street corner
i sit on a bench and share some words with alain
my brother from burundi
he’s a street vendor
he’s got two public phones
sells candies
matches
chips
and even single rizlas
in case of emergency
he’s trying to make a living and raise his two kids
between the cops’ raids
and the xenoidiotic threats of some local afrophobiacs
(king shaka would be ashamed of these modern age fighters
and don quixote would pity them)
apart from this
alain’s doing fine:
his babies are sleeping now
they’re dreaming of tomorrow’s crèche
where they’ll be playing all day
with the policemen’s kids
i salute alain as
three skinny cats jump out from a deserted building
look at me with disdainful indifference
it must be my long beard and my tattered shirt
or maybe
they’ve more urgent things to think about
like finding a way to catch that bloody bird
they’ve skipped too many meals this week
ribs don’t lie
and the night cutting wind reminds them
how fragile they are
i kick dreams away as a
washed out pack of nik naks swirls down the sidewalk
and arrogantly lands
over my rugged takkies
littering is fascism
and i just can’t stand ignorance
nik naks
and dirt
drunk screams from the flats across the road
from under a leafless tree the glittering shadow of a knife
blinking in the shrieking winter fog
“business as usual” smiles the flashy nedbank billboard
over the razor-wired fence
the sickening sound of police sirens
rips the moistened sky in two
it stiffens the marrow along my squeaking spine
while needles
sting the midpoint
of my frozen anus
it reminds me that it’s time to go home
and i agree (even if i don’t have one)
i walk around the corner
find a seat at sipho’s tavern
pull up my overcoat
pull down my beret
and order another beer
it’s the penultimate one
for today
Oorspronklik gepubliseer in: d’Abdon, Raphael. 2013. Sunnyside Nightwalk. Johannesburg: Geko.
sunnyside november dawn
Raphael d’Abdon
tremors upon the dewdrops where
the stars have rested
and morning birds
telling stories
to attentive ears
jacaranda trees along the sidewalks
with roots that reach out into the blacktop
making it bumpy
petals have fallen throughout the night
and leyds street is a desert purple carpet
at 5 am
sunnyside mystical sunups
it’s that time of the year again
Oor die digter: Raphael d’Abdon is ‘n Italiaans-gebore Pretorianer met ‘n doktorsgraad in Linguistiek en Literêre Studies van die Universiteit van Udine in Italië. Hy is ‘n akademikus, redakteur, digter, skrywer en vertaler en het in 2010 die Anna Panicali Literêre Prys in Italië gewen. Sy werk is in verskeie versamelings en akademiese joernale opgeneem, en hy sit op die rade van verskeie aanlyn literêre joernale. Sy debuutdigbundel, Sunnyside Nightwalk,
het verlede jaar verskyn, asook ‘n versamelingbundel wat hy saamgestel en geredigeer het, genaamd Marikana – a Moment in Time. Sy mees onlangse werk is ‘n versameling van Suid-Afrikaanse erotiese poësie wat hy in samewerking met nog ‘n Capital Poetry Project digter, Natalia Molebashi, saamgevoeg het. Verlede maand het hy deelgeneem aan die Suid-Afrikaanse been van 100 000 Poets for Peace, Love and Justice, ‘n kulturele gebeurtenis waar 100 000 digters regoor die wêreld hul stemme verleen het aan ‘n wens om die wêreld ‘n beter plek te maak. Hy is getroud met Natalia, het ‘n dogter, Atisa, en woon in Pretoria.
