Tag: poems

A Tribute to Africa’s Tree of Life

At the heart of the African plain
Stands a tree both old and sage:
A survivor of sunshine and rain
Silent witness to many an age

But this is no ordinary tree
For her trunk is hollow inside
And faithfully she keeps unseen
The secret of her native tribe

For her cave’s a place of birth
A haven safe from danger
This womb of Mother Earth
Is Africa’s child manger

The Baobab stands proud and strong
She serves her people as midwife
It’s been thus generations long
She’s Africa’s great Tree of Life

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

A Tribute to Botswana

Beneath the boundless African sky –
Unblemished blue overhead
And sun-bleached white on the horizon –
There is an endless African road:
Stretched long and shimmering straight
Tirelessly chasing its own vanishing point

Crossing the vast African bush –
Khaki-clad with stone buttons flashing silver
And mottled coat of green-brown and yellow-red –
Is a determined African bus:
A melting pot of tenacious travellers
Bubbling with the bright colours of adventure

They find a snaking African river –
A watery ribbon teeming with life
That quenches all who visit its cool shores –
Fraying into a wide African delta:
A floating Eden world
With arms open wide in swampy embrace

En route are remote African towns –
Echoing with fish-eagle cries of freedom
And donkey-plodding hopes for the future –
Nurturing countless African dreams:
Termite-mound aspirations reaching skyward
And ferry-chugging crossings to peace and prosperity

Among them is a wistful African poet –
At home in the bushveld of his birth
And at rest in the sands of the wilderness –
In search of eternal African mysteries:
The eroded ways of ancient flow-lines
And native answers to thirsty questions

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

My Africa!

As white-hot skies give way to bloodshot red
I breathe a sigh and rest my laden head
As dark descends and blinking stars pierce through
I close my weary eyes and dream of you

I dream a dream of genesis
Of teeming wildlife on the plains
I hear a tale of Eden’s bliss
Of sparks of knowledge fanned to flames

I dream a dream of beating drums
Of painted caves and hunters’ bow
I hear the voice of ancient ones
Who weave the web of what we know

I dream a dream of exodus
Of journeys over land and sea
I hear the song of restlessness
That swells with longing to be free

I run with cheetahs, graze with deer
I hunt with lions, know no fear
I soar with eagles, hide in dales
I swim with dolphins, sing with whales

I throb with music in the air
I see the swirl of rainbow flair
I feel the stomp of dancing feet
I sweat with fever’s tropic heat

I gaze into the firelight
I sit in silence, pure delight
I listen to the elders’ words
I rise upon the wings of birds

The rivers are flowing
The brown dust turned to green
The harvests are growing
In my African dream

The fathers are earning
The mothers’ love redeems
The children are learning
In my African dream

The peace-buds are blooming
The hope-streets freshly clean
The love-stalls are booming
In my African dream

As visions fade, all blurred and bled
My world unwinds like loosened thread
As daylight breaks and jet sky turns to blue
I wake refreshed with glorious dreams of you

My Africa!

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Tribute to the San Bushmen of Africa

First people of this ancient land
Last exiles in the desert sand
To you we owe our destiny
Our struggle to be wild and free

We call you Hunter, Bushman, San
You sowed the seeds of primal Man
A gentler race we have not known
See how your legacy has grown

For millennia you lived in peace
In harmony with nature’s beasts
With tools of sinew, wood and stone
And crafts of egg-shell, quill and bone

Hunting game and digging roots
Tapping trees and plucking fruits
Night theatre around dancing fires
Click singing under starry skies

You chose the way of archers’ bow
Of hunters’ grace – the art of flow:
To give and take and see the whole
To honour life and feed the soul

You felt the weather in your bones
And sensed earth’s subtle undertones
You heard the stars whisper ‘tsau! tsau!’
And rode the wind, we know not how

The landscape generations trod
Recalls to us your Mantis god
Windswept by myths and scattered tales
Told and retold on dusty trails

Then came the time of racial blight
A target for both black and white
The hunter became hunted prey
Pre-dawning your extinction day

You were the masters of the hunt
But progress left your arrows blunt
And tracking skills that reigned supreme
Are all but lost in history’s stream

Yet even now your soul still breathes
On cave walls and in rocky cleaves
In ochre, charcoal, mud and lime
Your gallery now transcends time

We see you smile in every face
Whose eyes reflect that ancient place
In wrinkled elders old as earth
Whose wisdom joins us with our birth

First people of this ancient land
If we could only understand
Your ancient ways still hold the key
To setting ourselves truly free

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Africa calls to me
With the beat of her drums that mark my days
And the words of her poets that guide my ways
With the crash of the waves that hug her shores
And the sounds of the rain that soak her pores
Africa calls to me
With the tears of mothers that stain her soil
And the laughter of children that ease her toil
With the rattle of guns that pierce her calm
And the bustle of streets that sing her psalm
Africa calls to me

The sounds of Africa
Are the cries of the world’s forgotten child
Taking us back into the womb of creation
The sounds of Africa
Are the songs of the world’s untamed wild
Filling our ears with hymns of oblation
The sounds of Africa
Are the screams of the world’s disturbing fears
Begging us to embrace transformation
The sounds of Africa
Are the words of the world’s neglected seers
Pointing us to the star of salvation

Africa speaks to me
Through the babble of markets on the breeze
And the lament of hawkers so forlorn
Through the heaving of fishers on the seas
And the hoot of taxis at dusk and dawn
Africa speaks to me
Through the roar of lions basking at noon
And the snigger of hyenas in the night
Through the rumble of elephants in tune
And the stir of gorillas out of sight
Africa speaks to me

The sounds of Africa
Are the lashing of slaves that haunt her past
And the victory songs of those who are free
The sounds of Africa
Are the crumbling of ways that cannot last
And the hopes for new possibilities
The sounds of Africa
Are the whispers in a din of despair
And the tunes in a maze of lost and found
The sounds of Africa
Are the notes in the symphony we share
And the joy in a land of light and sound

Africa calls to me
With the cry of eagles that frees my soul
And the hush of sand dunes that soothes my mind
With the call of loeries that makes me whole
And the cicadas drone that blots out time
Africa calls to me
With the crackle of fires that light her skies
And the rustle of leaves that swish her sighs
With the chant of her songs that move my feet
And the pulse of her heart that makes mine beat
Africa calls to me

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Your sacred image looms large
Painted on the rough canvass of Africa
Traced in the shifting sands of imagination
Etched into the hidden caves of the soul

The herd moves as one
Graceful skaters gliding across the shimmering mirage of dusty desert pans
Misty shadows playing hide and seek in the shrouded valley forests
Granite boulders in magical motion over the mottled bushveld plains

You are one of Eden’s first-born
Survivor of frozen time
Grown old and wise
Before men learned to crawl

The air trembles in harmonic rapture
As you chant your esoteric song
And the earth shudders in shameful guilt
As you trumpet your just anger

You are the maker of roads
The planter of gardens
And the builder of dams

Your trail of destruction
Is the path of creation
For all that follow in your wake

Death brings sorrow and mourning
Life heralds the joy of cheeky youth
In between, an invisible web of caring is strung
And a sacred maze of kith and kin is trod

Oh, great icon of this Earth
Memory of our faded past
Conscience of our troubled present
Prophet of our hopeful future
Lead us in your gentle footsteps
To that which is greater than our little selves

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

I. The Dark Continent

Africa – the dark continent:
So named by explorers
Because the candle of their knowledge
Was feeble and flickering;
Because their ignorance
Was a void of deep space.

Africa – the dark continent:
So named by conquerors
Because the torch of their mission
Was sordid and smoking;
Because their prejudice
Was a cave of grey ghouls.

Africa – the dark continent:
So named by scholars
Because the lamp of their enquiry
Was paltry and passing;
Because their theories
Were coded in white and black.

II. Enemies Of The Sun

Africa is the continent of light,
But there are enemies of the sun:
Despots who snuff out flames,
Gangsters who skulk in alleys
And traders who deal in darkness.

Africa is the continent of light,
But there are crevices of shade:
Valleys where black blood flows,
Corridors where corruption festers
And markets where slavery sells.

Africa is the continent of light,
But there is darkness, it is true:
For every beam casts its shadow,
Every sun has its eclipse
And there is no day without night.

III. The Day of Dawning

Africa’s day is dawning,
So let those who talk of shadows
Bring their light to bear;
And those who proclaim darkness
Open their eyes wider.

Africa’s day is dawning,
So let those who feed the night
Find themselves cold and hungry;
And those who steal the light
Find themselves alone and imprisoned.

Africa’s day is dawning,
So let those who pedal black fear
Discover the beauty of sunrise;
And those who dwell in tunnels
Find their inner flame.

IV. The Land Of Sunshine

Africa is the land of sunshine
Where topaz skies stretch out
From here-now to forever
And each scarlet sunrise
Renews faith, hope and life.

Africa is the hearth of firelight
Where dancing flames leap up
For distant starry dreams
And glowing orange embers
Warm the hands of friendship.

Africa is the pot of rainbows
Where every pregnant storm cloud
Crackles with electricity
And each shroud of grey mist
Shimmers iridescent.

V. The Shining Continent

Shine, Africa, shine!
Nourish our shared earth
And feed our common roots;
Green our tree of life
And bear sweet fruits of peace.

Shine, Africa, shine!
Spark our imagination
And confound us with your brilliance;
Flame our deepest desires
And dazzle us with your colours.

Shine, Africa, shine!
Fire our greatest passions
And empower us with your stories;
Blaze brightly on our soul quest
And inspire us with your light.

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

A Tribute to South Africa

Breathing smoke, the dragon wakes
Yawning fire, and sighing quakes
Blinking storms, with eyes aglow
Spitting floods of lava flow

With arching back of shifting scales
And clawing hands of fingered shales
With Grabben skin of Trapp basalt
And crevassed frown of geo-fault

Its Lowveld feet and Highveld chest
And Great Escarpment’s rising breast
Its Kalahari appetite
And Mountain Kingdom’s heady height

Flanked by sea, it roams the plains
At Tswaing a footprint still remains
While carcass bones of fossil prey
Still litter Karoo mud and clay

Aeons pass, the dragon sleeps
Dreaming of the hoard it keeps
With gold and diamonds in its plunder
Blissful snores echo as thunder

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

Note: A sangoma is an African shaman, a traditional Zulu healer

There’s a sangoma in our closet
At the office beneath the stair
Most think that she’s a little crazy
Taking daily refuge there
They see her through their bias:
The ‘girl’ who makes us tea
The messenger, the general help –
Why, who else could she be?

There’s a sangoma in our closet
But no one seems to care
In ignorance they shake their heads
They smile, try not to stare
Their arrogance has blinded them
To her secret, sacred role:
Revered within her community
As a doctor of the soul

There’s a sangoma in our closet
Whose beliefs we’ll never share
Schooled in ancient mystic lore
In magic foul and fair
Around her neck is loosely strung
Symbolic beads and string
An initiate in ways of power –
To dance, divine and sing

There’s a sangoma in our closet,
A sight both strange and rare
In semi-dark she conjures dreams
And whispers words of prayer
She listens as her ancestors
Give counsel true and wise
She contemplates life’s mysteries
Not least her divergent lives

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

A tribute to the “Little Foot” fossil at Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa

Your footprints in the rock
Supplied a vital clue
A key that might unlock
The mystery of you

They take us on a journey
Back four million years
A branching of the life-tree
When ape-man first appears

Aeons passed in slumber
Left undisturbed by time
Until Man’s blast of thunder
Exposed the hollow lime

Even then you stayed hid
In caves of Sterkfontein
The world’s first hominid
A secret yet remained

Until the revelation
By digger Robert Clarke
Brought you commendation
And freedom from the dark

Upon an outstretched arm
Your weary head still rested
And your shortened palm
Sparked theories now contested

Your waking in the valley
Takes science to the brink
Could you really be
The fated missing link?

Of you books will be written
Your sleep has turned to fame
Your progeny are smitten
And echo your proud name

Little Foot you have trod
Our path of history
Forever after we are shod
With your humanity

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.