“In each age men of genius undertake the ascent. From below, the world follows them with their eyes. These men go up the mountain, enter the clouds, disappear, reappear. People watch them, mark them. They walk by the side of precipices. They daringly pursue their road. See them aloft, see them in the distance; they are but black specks. On they go. The road is uneven, its difficulties constant. At each step a wall, at each step a trap. As they rise the cold increases. They must make their ladder, cut the ice and walk on it, hewing the steps in haste. A storm is raging. Nevertheless they go forward in their madness. The air becomes difficult to breath. The abyss yawns below them. Some fall. Others stop and retrace their steps; there is a sad weariness. The bold ones continue. They are eyed by the eagles; the lightning plays about them: the hurricane is furious. No matter, they persevere.”
Victor Hugo
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
A Brief for the Defense
Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies
are not starving someplace, they are starving
somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils.
But we enjoy our lives because that's what God wants.
Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not
be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not
be fashioned so miraculously well. The poor women
at the fountain are laughing together between
the suffering they have known and the awfulness
in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody
in the village is very sick. There is laughter
every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta,
and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay.
If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.
If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down,
we should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
We must admit there will be music despite everything.
We stand at the prow again of a small ship
anchored late at night in the tiny port
looking over to the sleeping island: the waterfront
is three shuttered cafés and one naked light burning.
To hear the faint sound of oars in the silence as a rowboat
comes slowly out and then goes back is truly worth
all the years of sorrow that are to come.
by Jack Gilbert
are not starving someplace, they are starving
somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils.
But we enjoy our lives because that's what God wants.
Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not
be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not
be fashioned so miraculously well. The poor women
at the fountain are laughing together between
the suffering they have known and the awfulness
in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody
in the village is very sick. There is laughter
every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta,
and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay.
If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.
If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down,
we should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
We must admit there will be music despite everything.
We stand at the prow again of a small ship
anchored late at night in the tiny port
looking over to the sleeping island: the waterfront
is three shuttered cafés and one naked light burning.
To hear the faint sound of oars in the silence as a rowboat
comes slowly out and then goes back is truly worth
all the years of sorrow that are to come.
by Jack Gilbert
Monday, 30 May 2011
Poets say the most beautiful things
"I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines
Can there be any poem more beautiful than this? I think not.
Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
Write, for instance: "The night is full of stars,
and the stars, blue, shiver in the distance."
The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
On nights like this, I held her in my arms.
I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her.
How could I not have loved her large, still eyes?
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
To think I don't have her. To feel that I've lost her.
To hear the immense night, more immense without her.
And the poem falls to the soul as dew to grass.
What does it matter that my love couldn't keep her.
The night is full of stars and she is not with me.
That's all. Far away, someone sings. Far away.
My soul is lost without her.
As if to bring her near, my eyes search for her.
My heart searches for her and she is not with me.
The same night that whitens the same trees.
We, we who were, we are the same no longer.
I no longer love her, true, but how much I loved her.
My voice searched the wind to touch her ear.
Someone else's. She will be someone else's. As she once
belonged to my kisses.
Her voice, her light body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, true, but perhaps I love her.
Love is so short and oblivion so long.
Because on nights like this I held her in my arms,
my soul is lost without her.
Although this may be the last pain she causes me,
and this may be the last poem I write for her.
by Pablo Neruda
Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
Write, for instance: "The night is full of stars,
and the stars, blue, shiver in the distance."
The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
On nights like this, I held her in my arms.
I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her.
How could I not have loved her large, still eyes?
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
To think I don't have her. To feel that I've lost her.
To hear the immense night, more immense without her.
And the poem falls to the soul as dew to grass.
What does it matter that my love couldn't keep her.
The night is full of stars and she is not with me.
That's all. Far away, someone sings. Far away.
My soul is lost without her.
As if to bring her near, my eyes search for her.
My heart searches for her and she is not with me.
The same night that whitens the same trees.
We, we who were, we are the same no longer.
I no longer love her, true, but how much I loved her.
My voice searched the wind to touch her ear.
Someone else's. She will be someone else's. As she once
belonged to my kisses.
Her voice, her light body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, true, but perhaps I love her.
Love is so short and oblivion so long.
Because on nights like this I held her in my arms,
my soul is lost without her.
Although this may be the last pain she causes me,
and this may be the last poem I write for her.
by Pablo Neruda
Monday, 28 February 2011
BEE, BBBEE, AA, EE, the ANC & other types of madness
Firstly an advance warning
In view of South Africa’s addiction to racial profiling, I’m going to regularly throw about the words white and black to make my point. I don’t speak or think like this, but I’ll use these terms to show how stupid the ANC’s policies on BEE, BBBEE, AA, and EE really are.
Now take a deep breath
The other day @comradesipho made the point that BEE was necessary to “fix economic discrimination.” I agree with a lot of what he says, but this is just lunacy.
Now I’m all for black people making money so the real question is how to do it? The ANC has tabled a whole gaggle of policies to fix this, but all I can see is a bunch of politically connected black billionaires who were at the right place at the right time. These people are not genuine entrepreneurs or risk takers but opportunists. Meanwhile, a whole industry of consultants and companies has sprung up advising companies on how best to “game” their empowerment credentials so the government leaves them alone. This system is working especially well for all the president’s men.
How long must these policies remain in place? “Look to the US,” says @comradesipho, “memories are long”. Well the US has elected a black president and the African American economy is about ONE TRILLION DOLLARS, which would make it the 15th biggest economy in the world crushing that of any country in Africa. That’s a whole lot of social justice. So how did they get there? Certainly not by government programs.
If the government wants to fix economic discrimination it must focus all its energy on creating, encouraging and supporting an entrepreneurial environment for everyone regardless of their skin colour. In 2004, a Harvard dropout, barely out of diapers, started Facebook, a $60 billion dollar company, which if listed on the JSE would be the 4th biggest company in the country. Now that would go a long way towards fixing economic discrimination.
Entrepreneurs start businesses. Businesses employ people and with youth unemployment sitting at 40% this is where you start. There is no other way to create wealth. If the South African economy was opened up to allow true competition and the government stopped trying to “fix it” it wouldn’t be long before the law of numbers would see black business dwarfing the white economy.
Instead we have a government who believes that they are better placed to allocate capital and determine who should win the lottery. Not only does this strangle innovation, but it also creates further hurdles for genuine black entrepreneurs because without the right connections they’ll have no chance of getting passed the gatekeepers.
When the Chinese commodities boom comes to an end, South Africa is going to find itself deep in the sh#t. It’s time that we stopped relying on what comes out the ground but focussed on what’s in our heads. Our economy needs to grow and diversify, but the government’s policies rely on the white man to give the black man shares and a job. It would be far better to let the black man eat the white man’s lunch.
In view of South Africa’s addiction to racial profiling, I’m going to regularly throw about the words white and black to make my point. I don’t speak or think like this, but I’ll use these terms to show how stupid the ANC’s policies on BEE, BBBEE, AA, and EE really are.
Now take a deep breath
The other day @comradesipho made the point that BEE was necessary to “fix economic discrimination.” I agree with a lot of what he says, but this is just lunacy.
Now I’m all for black people making money so the real question is how to do it? The ANC has tabled a whole gaggle of policies to fix this, but all I can see is a bunch of politically connected black billionaires who were at the right place at the right time. These people are not genuine entrepreneurs or risk takers but opportunists. Meanwhile, a whole industry of consultants and companies has sprung up advising companies on how best to “game” their empowerment credentials so the government leaves them alone. This system is working especially well for all the president’s men.
How long must these policies remain in place? “Look to the US,” says @comradesipho, “memories are long”. Well the US has elected a black president and the African American economy is about ONE TRILLION DOLLARS, which would make it the 15th biggest economy in the world crushing that of any country in Africa. That’s a whole lot of social justice. So how did they get there? Certainly not by government programs.
If the government wants to fix economic discrimination it must focus all its energy on creating, encouraging and supporting an entrepreneurial environment for everyone regardless of their skin colour. In 2004, a Harvard dropout, barely out of diapers, started Facebook, a $60 billion dollar company, which if listed on the JSE would be the 4th biggest company in the country. Now that would go a long way towards fixing economic discrimination.
Entrepreneurs start businesses. Businesses employ people and with youth unemployment sitting at 40% this is where you start. There is no other way to create wealth. If the South African economy was opened up to allow true competition and the government stopped trying to “fix it” it wouldn’t be long before the law of numbers would see black business dwarfing the white economy.
Instead we have a government who believes that they are better placed to allocate capital and determine who should win the lottery. Not only does this strangle innovation, but it also creates further hurdles for genuine black entrepreneurs because without the right connections they’ll have no chance of getting passed the gatekeepers.
When the Chinese commodities boom comes to an end, South Africa is going to find itself deep in the sh#t. It’s time that we stopped relying on what comes out the ground but focussed on what’s in our heads. Our economy needs to grow and diversify, but the government’s policies rely on the white man to give the black man shares and a job. It would be far better to let the black man eat the white man’s lunch.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
A message for African children everywhere
I read Khaya Dlanga’s blog “Sorry white people, we are not the same” and it left me feeling a little sad. It read to me like a my life is more miserable than yours pity party in which there are no winners only victims.
So we are not the same and we haven’t had the same opportunities in life. Now what? Everyone knows this, but opportunity is a relative concept and the child soldier in Liberia or the child labourer in Pakistan would only look at Khaya’s life in envy. I constantly bitch that I wasn’t born rich with a ticket to Harvard and a trust fund to match. But there we have it and there is always somebody out there better off and worse off than us and there are people out there with half the opportunities I’ve had who will go on and accomplish ten times more than I will. The moral of the story is - the world doesn’t care.
I see that Khaya is a Christian, well so am I, and in the Bible there is a story of a man called Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers but went on to run Egypt. How’s that for opportunity? We should all care about social justice but our lives are more than what colour we were born or where we went to school. Anything is possible.
I say fu#k white people. We are irrelevant in Africa. We are not going to build your roads, your schools and your hospitals. We are not going to bring up your children, teach your kids or govern your countries. We are not going to launch your businesses, pay your taxes, write your stories or make your movies. Take control of your own destiny.
There is a quote I love and it goes like this:
“The first step towards success is taken when you refuse to be captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.” Mark Caine
Khaya step outside and smell the air. Take a deep breath. You’re free. Africa is your oyster.
So we are not the same and we haven’t had the same opportunities in life. Now what? Everyone knows this, but opportunity is a relative concept and the child soldier in Liberia or the child labourer in Pakistan would only look at Khaya’s life in envy. I constantly bitch that I wasn’t born rich with a ticket to Harvard and a trust fund to match. But there we have it and there is always somebody out there better off and worse off than us and there are people out there with half the opportunities I’ve had who will go on and accomplish ten times more than I will. The moral of the story is - the world doesn’t care.
I see that Khaya is a Christian, well so am I, and in the Bible there is a story of a man called Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers but went on to run Egypt. How’s that for opportunity? We should all care about social justice but our lives are more than what colour we were born or where we went to school. Anything is possible.
I say fu#k white people. We are irrelevant in Africa. We are not going to build your roads, your schools and your hospitals. We are not going to bring up your children, teach your kids or govern your countries. We are not going to launch your businesses, pay your taxes, write your stories or make your movies. Take control of your own destiny.
There is a quote I love and it goes like this:
“The first step towards success is taken when you refuse to be captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.” Mark Caine
Khaya step outside and smell the air. Take a deep breath. You’re free. Africa is your oyster.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
A message for Arab children everywhere
I love the Persian poets Hafiz & Rumi and in light of the monumental events led by the youth in the Middle East I want to post this beautiful prophetic poem written by the great Arab poet Nizar Qabbani.
Arab children,
Corn ears of the future,
You will break our chains.
Kill the opium in our heads,
Kill the illusions.
Arab children,
Don't read about our suffocated generation,
We are a hopeless case,
As worthless as a water-melon rind.
Don't read about us,
Don't ape us,
Don't accept us,
Don't accept our ideas,
We are a nation of crooks and jugglers.
Arab children,
Spring rain,
Corn ears of the future,
You are the generation that will overcome defeat.
Arab children,
Corn ears of the future,
You will break our chains.
Kill the opium in our heads,
Kill the illusions.
Arab children,
Don't read about our suffocated generation,
We are a hopeless case,
As worthless as a water-melon rind.
Don't read about us,
Don't ape us,
Don't accept us,
Don't accept our ideas,
We are a nation of crooks and jugglers.
Arab children,
Spring rain,
Corn ears of the future,
You are the generation that will overcome defeat.
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