from Return from Robben Island

Returning from Robben Island, Madiba
shrunk this mainland from destination
to stepping stone on a longer journey

made a crossing

came in from the shadow. And now they want to build
a bridge to Robben Island - fifteen knots
of concrete and steel,

missing the point.
Without justice, consciousness unbalanced
finds an island somewhere

to dump its leavings, as a penny will slide
on a tilted table,
as fault flows by gravity into the other.

In a land without justice we stagger helpless
like prisoners blindfolded
like BSE cattle, exiled from meaning

like drunks in the early hours
like refugees imprisoned
starving for homecoming.

See another poem?
Order "Homecoming"

O Home O

Poems Copyright © Jeni Couzyn 1999.
Illustrations Copyright © Cecil Skotnes 1999. All rights reserved.
Legal notice: No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise without written permission from the copyright owners and the publisher. Jeni Couzyn and Claire Weissman Wilks have asserted their rights under section 77 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work.