Cape Town Inspirations: Poetry,
Personal essays, Photos: Part 1
According to public record, Cape Town (Kapstadt,
Kho-San in Xhosa) is the largest city after Johannesburg in South Africa. The
first foreigners to arrive in Cape Town were the Dutch in 1652, who in turn
imported slaves from Indonesia. Then the British captured Cape Town in 1795.
Cape Town is known for its natural beauty and was
named the best place in the world to visit by the New York Times and The Daily Telegraph.
To me, it possesses the breathless beauty of all the Caribbean. But behind all things beautiful is there
always a lurking beast in the form of nature or social inequality. I was in
Cape Town for three weeks. Fish Hoek was my temporary home and the poems below
reflect some of my early impressions.
Going Down Town Fish Hoek
I follow the long road in the sleepy neighborhood.
Above, clouds are racing in the clear blue sky.
The surrounding rugged mountains
are covered in grey, quartz sandstone.
Fantasy tells me they are windowless barracks
hiding aliens from an alternate world,
the front of a hidden dimension
that has watched over Fish Hoek for eons.
I shake these grey thoughts off.
The way is quiet except for barking dogs
that guard the houses of the wealthy.
No trespassing
signs threaten mortal harm.
Guarding the roadside, too, are families of cacti
and plants with thistle and thorns.
The dogs are not enough.
I run into a peacock and five guineafowls.
We are surprised to see one another.
The sea lies ahead of me.
The sun, biting my neck,
reminds me I should have
plastered myself in sun-screen.
The billowing wind
propels me down the road
pushes me closer
to the frothy sea whipping the shore.
Sun and wind follow me
as I turn into the main downtown road.
They accompany me back home
It is not so solitary a walk.
© Althea Mark-Romeo 30.12.19,
Oya
The trees
bend, point left.
This is the
way they say
with their
branches.
The
wind-goddess dictates.
Those
crossing her path
must hold
tightly onto themselves
and their
possessions.
The
punishment for
disobeying
her orders,
GO LEFT,
is the
stripping of your dignity.
Oya threatens
to dislodge
your grip on safety,
throw you to
the ground,
strip you of
your clothing,
steal your
hat, pluck your hair-piece,
snatch knots,
bandeaux,
pull at your
earrings,
battle you
for your handbag.
Do not resist
her bullying.
The mighty
trees
have
succumbed to her will.
Who are you
to disobey?
So, go left
when she tells you to.
© 02.01.2020
Althea Romeo-Mark
*Oya is one of the most powerful
African Goddesses (Orishas). A
Warrior-Queen, she is the sister-wife of the God, Shango. She is the goddess of thunder, lightning,
tornadoes, winds, rainstorms and hurricanes.
Her power is rooted in the natural world.
Memory in the Wind
The wind pushes, No! It shoves.
It wakes a childhood memory:
my mother’s hand,
pressed on my back-bone,
thrusts me forward,
impels my dragging feet.
I am embodied by stubborn denial.
Apology is stuck on my tongue.
At the destination,
an uneasy, “sorry”,
is forced out of my mouth
by the threat of an unforgettable
whipping.
Threatening words leave welts
in my imagination…how soon
they could be real…?
Mother has a belt in her hand.
The welling up is a strong wind
in my eye.
The white froth of the choppy Fish
Hoek sea,
is like family witnessing my inner
turmoil.
Fessing up is followed by heaving,
shuddering shame.
The flower pot I said I forgot at
church,
I admit to reckless handling,
breaking.
Truth is the wind easing.
© 29.12.19 Althea Romeo-Mark
My poem, "Dancing in Head and Heart," is published in Gardens in the Desert, the DoveTales Winter on-line edition whose publisher is Writing for Peace. The poem is dedicated to a dear friend I lost on 24, 12. 2019.
Here is the link to the anthology.
Here is a direct link to my poem.
Althea Romeo-Mark
Poet and educator
February 2020
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