Broken ��" The transformers

 

When I came to South Africa

I packed little information

And what I saw and what I learned

Gave little cause for celebration

 

What I saw on arrival

Gave me cause for some surprise

The manmade heap rising in leaps

Echoed the miner’s cries

 

The people here, it seems to me

Are eager to transform

But given expectations

Change will only slowly come

 

With pace of change that’s hampered by

Bureaucracy so rife

A tendency refined so well

From past empyreal life

 

And to a mind a structure

Not so easy to dismantle

As all born here are too aware

Of how the system strangles

 

As I am I and you are you

Sure as the day is long

So I can see the legacy

That remains forever wrong

 

I sweep the streets, I make your bed

I’m waiting at your table

But I belong, promote my song

For as long as I am able

 

But now I tire, you are so strong

Still looking down on me

I hope to god that soon you’ll learn

I’m destined to be free

 

 

Then I’ll grow strong, assert myself

I’m taking back my land

As I work for my family

No chain wrapped round my hand

 

The structure starts its slow dissolve

As I remember Nelson

And all my people and their tribes

Will near accept a ransom

 

As I am I and you are you

We always have been right

And how this helps to clarify

Our true courageous plight

 

Now we have come full circle

On my first held observation

To recommend this country

I have little reservation

 

Yes there are mindsets and set roles

That I can barely stomach

But also hope discernable

From child right through to mother

 

So finally I’d like to say

To all my earthly brothers

Let your guard down, I’ll bet a crown

Your shit will go to others.