A Song for Soweto

June Jordan

At the throat of Soweto

a devil language falls

slashing

claw syllables to shred and leave  

raw

the tongue of the young

girl

learning to sing

her own name

 

Where she would say  

                              water

They would teach her to cry

                                        blood

Where she would save

                              grass

They would teach her to crave

                                           crawling into the

                                                    grave

Where she would praise

                                 father

They would teach her to pray

                                          somebody please

                                          do not take him  

                                              away

Where she would kiss with her mouth

                                           my homeland

They would teach her to swallow

                                              this dust

But words live in the spirit of her face and that

sound will no longer yield to imperial erase

 

Where they would draw  

                               blood

She will drink

                     water

Where they would deepen

                                  the grave

She will conjure up

                            grass

Where they would take

                               father and family away

She will stand

                     under the sun/she will stay

Where they would teach her to swallow

                                                       this dust

She will kiss with her mouth

                                          my homeland

and stay

with the song of Soweto

 

stay

with the song of Soweto

"A Song for Soweto"

 

by June Jordan from Directed by Desire. The Collected Poems of June Jordan. Reprinted with the permission of the June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust, and Copper Canyon Press. www. Junejordan.com


Main Location:

Soweto, South Africa