South Africa Farm Killings, page-3

Reminds me of a moving poem I read years ago of another similar murder, one of thousands of such farm killings, this one in Zimbabwe. The farmer's dog stayed loyal til the end.




ON SEEING A MURDERED FARMER ON THE NIGHTLY NEWS
A farmer my age
Lies dead
His old dog guarding
His battered body
Covered
By the sort of bedspread
I used to shelter under
As a child
Its feel caressing
Sunburnt newly bathed
Shoulders smelling
Of Sunlight soap
And taking the edge
Off the cooling
Pre-thunderstorm air.
Later
The sun streaming
Through rondavel windows,
I’d Throw off the spread
And lie naked
Stroked by the searing
African sun
Unafraid of the future
And the plethora
Of perils outside.
Now
Cocooned by
Antipodean safety
I sit stunned,
While he
Gains none
Save from
His faithful dog
Who blankets his memory
And trembles
In mourning
And despair.