David Kapp, Belthorn
A paternal grandfather can’t get much sleep
as yet another
young one is killed
(she thrown on a field
like a piece of garbage)
That is not right
she is a human being
(a local library colleague wonders whether children are growing up too quickly)
elsewhere a be-suited one declares that gangs
are using weapons
of war
blustering on about
never failing our people
and liberating our people
from prisons of fear
is the mind not
that dangerous place
that weapon of war
male suspects appear
and are charged
while we fill that other concrete prison
then tick off boxes
for political statisticians
and the statistics
of politicians
Is that right?
“Another girl killed, another tenant held” (Cape Times, October 24), “Charnelle’s mom shares her grief” (Argus, October 24), “Another child found dead” (Athlone News, October 25), and “Gangs using ‘weapons of war’” (Athlone News, October 18).