Howl Marikana

by Nov 13, 2013Magazine

And they cried with a loud voice,

saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true,

dost thou not judge and avenge our blood

on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation. 6:10)

Colours were simpler then. Meant

less. At least it seemed that way. Before the

burning. Millions of colours. Burnt alive. At the stake.

Roasted because of their toxicity. Poisonous colours. Then

the beginning. Again. After the end. Fewer colours. But

meaning more. 2300 colours. All that was left. After

the colourcaust. Colour burning. Only the strong

colours survived. Pure. Survival all that

ANDRIES NTSENYEHO killed by police.

mattered. Matters. A smattering of

beautiful colours. Colours to re-

flect on. Reflectivity. The

depth of colours.

Colours for the

shallow

waters and

the deep. No

ANELE MDIZENI killed by police.

muddy colours.

Muddy colours rendered

redundant and left out of the

lexicon. Deprogrammed. If your

colours start acting up then you take

their friends. The colour now. The colour

girl. There’s not a colour that I can’t fix. I can

do it in the mix. In the beginning again the colour

BABALO MTSHAZI killed by police.

flesh became the colour burn.

And the colour stoned me.

The colour gassed me.

We were given again and then some. Offered up. Sacrificed.

To the one god that punished us. Open and shut. Closed. Circuit.

Colours were simpler then. Beginning again. Not meant less. Billions of

colours like bytes. Megabytes. Gigabytes. All of them. Lost and burnt

again. Terrorbytes. Ashen colours. Colours that were taken out in

BONGANI MDZA killed by police.

body bags. Colour bags. Sanitized. And if your colour starts

acting up then you bag her friend. Body bag. And the

colour body was made flesh. Flesh bag. Hand bag.

Colours were simpler then. Meant less.

Meaning less. Meant to mean less.

At least it seemed that way.

Seeming

less.

BONGANI NQONGOPHELE killed by police.

Bursting. At

the seems.

And the waters parted.

With a staff. Thy rod

and thy lexicon

shall convert

me.

Convertible.

BONGINKOSI YONA killed by police.

Thy shalt not

convert thy neighbour’s

colours. The word thief. Asymptote.

Acolyte. Colourbyte. White. Colours for

Whites-only. Red meat eaters. Survival. The

word survival surviving. What a scene. We saw

the great colours of our generation mind blown. Coloured

up.

CEBISILE YAWA killed by police.

None of it meant to be. Not for me. Marikana democracy.

A guilty name not an alibi. Subconsciously. Inevitably.

Ready or not for colours here we come.

Meaning less. Meaningless.

Guillotine. Cellophane.

The colour wrap.

Claustrophobe.

FEZILE SAPHENDU killed by police.

Phobic.

Millions of

colours skinned

alive. Only the strong

colours survived. Say it

again. Say what? Say colour?

We heard the colour say our names.

And in the beginning again the colour

JACKSON LEHUPA killed by police.

god was made one with the colour son.

Now

I’m a believer.

Like this. Like that.

Like me. In the beginning

was the Coloured Light. And the

Coloured Light was good. And the Coloured

Light was made flesh. Flesh wounds. 78 wounded and 34 dead

JANAVEKE RAPHAEL LIAU killed by police.

on the battlefield like meat eaters. Stuck on meat.

Carrion. Vulture days.

I saw the

best

colours

of my generation

getting eaten by vultures.

2300 colours. Then the sanctuary

JOHN LEDINGOANE killed by police.

will be reconsecrated. Stop! Say no more.

Silenzio. Whites were simpler then. Meant less.

At least it seemed that way. Before the burning. Millions

of whites. Burnt alive. At the stake. Roasted because of their

toxicity. Poisonous whites. Then the beginning. Again. At the beginning.

Fewer whites. But meaning more. 2300 whites. All that was left.

After the holocaust. White burning. Only the strong whites

survived. Pure. Survival all that mattered. All that

JULIUS MACONTYWA killed by police.

matters. A smattering of beautiful whites.

Whites to reflect on. Reflectivity. The

depth of whites. Whites

for the shallow

waters and

the deep.

No

muddy

KHANARE MONESA killed by police.

whites. Muddy

whites rendered

redundant and left

out of the lexicon. De-

programmed. If your whites

start acting up then you take their

friends. The white now. The white girl.

There’s not a white that I can’t fix. I can do

MAFOLISI MABIYA killed by police.

it in the mix. In the beginning again the white

flesh became the white burn. Why Marikana God?

We were given again and then some. Offered. Sacrificed.

To the one god that punished up. Open and shut. Closed. Circuit.

Whites were simpler then. Beginning again. Not meant less. Billions

of whites like bytes. Megawhites. Gigabwhites. All of them. Lost and burnt

again. Terrorbytes. Ashen whites. Whites that were taken out in body bags. Sanitized.

MAKOSANDILE MKHONJWA killed by police.

And if your white starts acting up then you bag her friend. Body bag.

And the white body was made flesh. Flesh bag. Words were

simpler then. Meant less. Meaning less. Meant to mean

less. At least it seemed that way. Seeming less.

Seams bursting. At the seems.

And the waters parted.

With a staff. Thy rod

and thy lexicon

MGCINENI NOKI killed by police.

shall convert

me.

Convertible.

Thy shalt not

convert thy neighbour’s

whites. The white thief. Asymptote.

Acolyte. Soundwhite. Words for Whites-

only. Red meat eaters. Survival.

MICHAEL NGWEYI killed by police.

The white survival surviving. What a scene.

We saw the great whites of our generation mind

blown. White up. If your white starts acting up then

you take her friend. Apostrophe. None of it meant to be.

Not for me. Surely no Marikana possible in a Democracy? Subconsciously. Inevitably. Then the cancer. We come as whites. Simpler whites.

More complex whites too. Simpler then. Meaning less.

August 16 2012 what does it mean? Does it mean?

MODISAOTSILE SAGALALA killed by police.

Meaningless. Meaning more. Before the beheading. Guillotine. Axe me

no questions and I’ll tell you no lies. Drowning in a sea of doubt.

Cellophane. The white wrap. Claustrophobe. Phobic. Millions

of whites skinned alive. Only the strong whites survived.

Say it again. Only the strong whites will survive. Say

what? Say white? I heard the white say my name.

And in the beginning again the white god

was made one with the white son.

MOLEFI NTSOELE killed by police.

Now I’m a believer. Like this.

Like that. Like me. In the

beginning was the

white light. And

the white light

was good.

And the

white

MONGEZELELI NTENETYA killed by police.

light

was

made

flesh. Flesh

wounds. Meat

eaters. Stuck on

meat. Carrion. Vulture

days. I saw the best whites

MLANDULI SABA killed by police.

of my generation eating. Eating

like vultures. 2300 whites. Then the

sanctuary will be reconsecrated. Say no

more. Silenzio. Beginning again. Blacks were

simpler then. Meant less. At least it seemed that

way. Before the burning. Millions of blacks. Burnt alive.

At the stake. Roasted because of their toxicity. Poisonous

blacks. Then

MPHANGELI THUKUZA killed by police.

the beginning. Again. At the beginning. Fewer blacks.

But meaning more. 2300 blacks. All that was left.

After the holocaust. Black burning. Only the

strong blacks survived. Pure. Survival all

that mattered. Matters. A smattering

of beautiful blacks. Blacks to re-

flect on. Reflectivity. The

depth of blacks. Blacks

MPUMZENI NGXANDE killed by police.

for the shallow

waters and

the deep.

No

muddy

blacks. Muddy

blacks rendered

redundant and left

MVUYISI PATO killed by police.

out of the lexicon. De-

programmed. If your blacks

start acting up then you take their

friends. The black now. The black girl.

There’s not a black that I can’t fix. I can do

it in the mix. In the beginning again the black

flesh became the black burn. Why Marikana God?

And the police stoned me. The police gassed. Guessed me.

MZUKISI SOMPETA killed by police.

Blessed me. We were given again and then some. Offered. Sacrificed.

To the one god that punished us. Democracy. Open and shut. Closed. Circuit. Words were simpler then. Beginning again. Not meant less. Billions of

words like bytes. Megabytes. Gigabytes. All of them. Lost and burnt

again. Terrorbytes. Ashen words. Words that were taken out in

body bags. Black bags. Sanitized. And if your black starts

acting up then you bag her friend. Body bag. And the

black body was made flesh. Flesh bag.

NKOSIYABO XALABILE killed by police.

Blacks were simpler then. Meant

less. Meaning less. Meant to

mean less. At least it

seemed that way.

Seeming

less. Bursting

at the seems. . .

And the waters parted.

NTANDAZO NOKAMBA killed by police.

With a staff. Thy rod

and thy lexicon

shall convert

me.

Convertible.

Thy shalt not

convert thy neighbour’s

blacks. The word thief. Asymptote.

PATRICK JIJASE killed by police.

Acolyte. Soundbyte. White. Blacks for

Whites-only. Red meat eaters. Survival.

The word survival surviving. What a scene.

We saw the great blacks of this generation mind

blown. Black up. If your black starts acting up then

you take her friend. Apostrophe. None of it meant to be.

Not for me. Marikana. A massacre. Subconsciously. Inevitably.

Then the cancer. Ready or not for blacks here we come.

PHUMZILE SOKANYILE killed by police.

We come as blacks. Simpler blacks. More complex

blacks too. Ready or not here we come again.

In the beginning was the dictionary.

Then the thesaurus. Word sound

and power. Simpler then.

Meaning less. Meaning-

less. Before the

beheading.

SANDI TEYISE killed by police.

Guillotine.

Tell us no lies.

Drowning in a sea

of doubt. Cellophane.

The black wrap. Catastrophe.

Phobic. Millions of blacks

skinned alive.

Only the

STELEGA GADLELA killed by police.

strongest blacks survived. Say it again. Only the

strongest blacks will survive. Say what? Say black again?

I heard the word Black say my name. And in the beginning

again the black god was made one with the black

son. Now I’m a believer. Like this. Like that.

Like me. In the beginning was the Black

light. And the Black light was good.

And the Black light was made

TELENG MOHAI killed by police.

flesh. Flesh wounds. Meat

eaters. Stuck on meat.

Carrion. Vulture

days. I saw the

best blacks of

my

generation

getting eaten

THABILE MPUMZA killed by police.

by vultures. 2300

blacks. Then the sanctuary

will be reconsecrated.

Say no more.

Silenzio.

Beginning

again. Words

were simpler then.

THABISO MOSEBETSANE killed by police

Meant less. At least it

seemed that way. Before

the burning. Millions of words.

Burnt alive. At the stake. Roasted

because of their toxicity. Poisonous

words. Then the beginning. Again. We

end at the beginning. Fewer words. But

meaning more. 2300 words. All that was

THABISO THELEJANE killed by police.

left. After the holocaust. Word burning. Only

the strong words survived. Pure words. Survival

all that matters. A smattering of burnt words. Words

to reflect on. Reflectivity. The depth of words.

Words for the shallow waters and

the deep.

No

muddy

THAPELO MABEBE killed by police.

words. Muddy

words rendered

redundant and left

out of the lexicon. De-

programmed. If your words

start acting up then you take their

similes. The word now. The word girl.

There’s not a word that I can’t fix. I can do

THEMBELAKHE MATI killed by police.

it in the mix. In the beginning again the word

flesh became the word burn. Lets burn the word

Marikana. Stone the word Marikana. Marikana the

word shames me. Is this my country? We were given

again and then some. Offered. Sacrificed. Open and shut.

Closed. Circuit. Words were simpler then. Beginning again.

Not meant less. Billions of words like bytes. Megabytes. Gigabytes.

All of them. Lost and burnt again. Terrorbytes. Ashen words. Words that were

THEMBINKOSI GWELANI killed by police.

taken out in body bags. Word bags. Sanitized. And if your word starts acting

up then you bag her friend. Body bag. And the word body was made flesh

word. Flesh wound. Words were simpler then. No double entendres.

Meant less. Meaning less. Meant to mean less. At least it seemed

that way. Seeming less. Bursting. At the seems.

And the waters parted.

With a staff. Thy rod

and thy lexicon

THOBISILE ZIMBAMBELE killed by police.

shall convert

me.

Convertible.

Thy shalt not

convert thy neighbour’s

words. Covertly. The word thief.

Stolen. Asymptote. Holy acolyte. Soundbyte.

White. Words for Whites-only. Red word eaters. Survival.

HUMAN BEING killed by police.

The word survival surviving. What a scene.

The President saw the great words of his generation

mind blown. Word up. If your word starts acting up then

you take her comrade. Apostrophe. None of it meant to be. Not in a

democracy. Marikana acting out a bloody fantasy. Blood is his shame

not a colour. But it’s also a word. Mockingbird. Subconsciously. Inevitably.

Then the cancer. We comes as words. Simpler words. More complex

words too. In the beginning was the dictionary. Then the the-

FATHER SON killed by police.

saurus. Word sound and power. Simpler then. Meaning less.

Words like freedom justice human rights and dignity.

Made meaningless. Drowning in a sea of doubt.

Cellophane. The word wrap. Claustrophobe.

Phobic. Millions of words skinned alive.

Only the strong words survived. Say it

again. Say what? Wordy

rappinghood

BROTHER LOVER killed by police.

Say word up. And down again like AMCU

and NUM. We thought we heard the

word Union say our names. And

in the beginning again the

word god was

made one

with the

word

WORKER BREADWINNER killed by police.

son.

Now I’m

a believer.

Like this. Like

that. Like me. In

the beginning was

the word like. And the

word like was good. And

SOUTH AFRICA killed by police.

the word like was made flesh.

Flesh wounds. Meat eaters. Stuck

on meat. Carrion. Vulture days. We saw

the best words of our generation getting spoken

by vultures. 2300 words

like bullets shot:

Will it be your tun next?

To be killed by police?

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