when lights go out - Mongane Wally Serote

(for some who are in south african jails)

1
it is with the shadows of night
when the sun comes and goes
the moon comes and goes
that we ask, in weary voices, which fall into the depth of the gulf:
how does it feel to be you
watching and waiting
to feel the heavy weight of every minute come followed by another
and nothing
even everything written in blood
says nothing about how we could wake up tomorrow and build a day

2
your eyelids shut, if they ever do,
and the memories of those you knew,
flood behind the darkness of closed eyelids
spiralling into patterns of pain
and you alone know that once there were hopes
that once the footsteps of the people sounded on the horizon
and now
silence strides across the sky
where the sun sweats, proclaiming a wish to rest

3
can we tell you
you the children of a long hour a long day a long night
that hope never befriends fools
yes
time, in absolute eloquence, can erase our faces
remember sharpville?
in those days, violence and disaster were articulate
and now
today you watch and wait

4
so one day hope begins to walk again
it whispers
about the twisted corpses that we saw
sprawled across the streets on this knowledgeable earth
the tears
the blood
the memory
and the knowledge, which was born
by every heavy minute that we carried
across a wilderness, where there were no paths
where screams echoed, as if never to stop
it is when there is no hope, that hope begins to walk again
yet
like we said
hope never befriends fools

5
since we have eyes to see
ears
and fingers to touch
only if we know how, can we harness time -
can you hear the footsteps

---

Mongane Wally Serote (born 1944) South Africa
Source: PoemHunter