by Michael Wentworth
Sat drinking one night in a bar When Santa Claus walked in with a swagger Already drunk and disorderly and itching for a fight After Snow White had given him shit Because she had been with Mowgli again And Casper the barman Had to raise his voice to calm things down As Jesus walked in with Goldilocks on his arm. Outside the dwarves were on their knees And the giants with their swords held high Were mowing them down left and right While the sun and the moon were having high tea And the king was fucking the queen’s daughter Behind the barn as the cows looked on disapprovingly Asking each other what had become of the world When even the raindrops were falling skyward. When I grow up in a million years I’d still want to be an ophthalmologist at night And during the day I’ll be a conjuror Charging all the near-sighted followers exorbitant sums To open their eyes so that they can see That all the hocus-pocus that they claim to believe Is what keeps them blind and dumb like animals on a farm Each in its own pen in seeming harmony.
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ABOUT THE POET ~
I am Michael Wentworth, a South African writer and cultural activist. ‘A Love Letter for the Epoch’ is a new collection of my poems written over the past two decades., In primary school in the 1970’s I wrote a composition for the June examination that was read to the assembled school by the principal on the day that we returned after the holidays. As I listened I realised that I had written it and I began to notice the reactions of my peers. At that moment I knew that this was what I was meant to do., Since then I have honed my craft on the streets and in the gutters; in the ghetto and the ghetto hotels; with passion and certifiable insanity. One of my first short stories won a competition in a daily newspaper while I was still at school and my poetry has been published in various compilations and anthologies as well as the African arts and culture magazine Rootz., I have been writing professionally for theatre since 1996 when I was commissioned to write a children’s play for the North West Cultural Calabash Festival. My first feature play was the only South African entrant to be short-listed for the 1997 British Council International New Playwright Competition. I have since worked as a writer on various documentaries and stage productions including an original adaptation of Can Themba’s short story ‘The Suit’, as well as the pop-opera ‘Torong – A place to dream’ which I wrote, composed and directed. My theatre credits include writing and co-directing the musical ‘Maloba – Memoirs of a Nation’, ‘Waiting’ which I also produced and which premiered at the National Arts Festival in 2008, ‘Live rAGE’ which was a birthday tribute to the poet and writer James Matthews and ‘Progres’ inspired by the life and work of Ken Saro-Wiwa., Most recently my play Just Another Friday Night which was first performed at the Volksblad Kunstevees in 2009 was performed in May this year at the Windybrow Community Festival. The play was directed by Danny Moleko., I have written for television and radio as well as various South African newspapers and magazines and I am currently working on my debut novel entitled ‘A Tale of Extra-Ordinary Madness’ while co-ordinating an arts project at an underprivileged primary school in the Eastern Cape.
Last updated July 14, 2015