For Lyndi Fourie

Lyndi Fourie died when gunmen went on a killing spree inside a popular eating place in Cape Town, South Africa. She was only 23. The chief of the APLA (Anzanian People’s Liberation Army) Letlapa Mphahlele, who had ordered the attack, later met with Lyndi`s mother and asked for forgiveness.

This is his poem.

~

"Forgive our deafness
Our ears are modulated
To hear voices of the dead
Counselling us from your tomb
We leap at your still commands

Hands that unleashed thunder on you
Nine summers ago
This summer tremble before your throne

In the twilight of our age
The angry soldier breezed from the bush
Tried in vain to hate
Succeeded in hurting
Today the guerrilla is foraging in the bush
For herbs
To heal hearts swollen with grief

Show us
How to muffle the roars of our rage
How to dam the rivers of our tears
How to share laughter and land
Land and laughter

Forgive our idiocy
Our souls are tuned
To heed prophecy
By the graveside of the prophet
Whose blood we spilt
Whose teachings we ridiculed
While he walked among us"


Written by Letlapa Mphahlele