Conversation with South African poets - 6: Gabeba Baderoon
I have just read a heartbreaking poem by Gabeba Baderoon on Badilisha Poetry Exchange, titled War Tryptich. I admire Ms Baderoon's work - she is one of the few living SA writers I had actually come across before I started actively trying to read more local work. This poem is a fine example, but one that I have found difficult to sit with. Since I've become a mother, I find anything to do with children suffering almost unbearable to keep in mind. I'm sure I was moved by similar stories before, but these days they are too close to home. My response below, is not advocating a political or philosophical position, only expressing personal weakness. As usual, you are invited to add your own response in the comments section.
looking away
a poem by Jean Watermeyer, after Gabeba Baderoon
not out of respect exactly, more for the sake of mental health--
let us be kind to ourselves
(in the back of our minds are already
perhaps one or two, perhaps hundreds, even thousands
of soft children, reaching for us)
let us have our babies here, where we can see them
safe among the sofas
and look for the vulnerable, the small, in one another’s faces
(in the back of our minds, we see the stranger on the street,
every other poem)
and think of other things than war, while we can.
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