COLOURS

It was the worst June in Cape Town
what with all the storms and destruction
so much water pouring down, from where you ask
the worst in about fifty years the papers said

the newspaper vendor at the station
clamoured:
The Cape is drowning!
Die Kaap is versuip!
A little further
a fruit seller
tempted me with some
“ozone-free naartjies” he yelled
the newspaper vendors and
the fruitsellers
are to me
a great source of knowledge and inspiration
I mean “ozone-free naartjies” tugs a warning bell
and reminds me that something’s screwed up somewhere
and the news of the floods and devastation
is cause for great gloom
and it draws me closer
somehow to those with the suffering
who have no roofs, knee-deep in
the soaking chaos and the ice-cold helplessness

and further down
a bergie bums some money
and teaches me
that economics is more about how little you have
than how much
and he beams a bright smile at me and makes me richer
And even in the gloom of the worst June
in fifty years
I learn that there is so much colour
in the streets of Cape Town
and I haven’t yet
passed the flower sellers
with their yellows
and reds
and pinks
and blues