Jackass (2007/8)
In blood red waves
heads and feet come a-rolling down the hill
Sisyphus has his hands full but he remains ever so committed
below prince valiant tallies the count and readies the bonfire
ra ta ta ta ta (some half-wit lights a string of fire crackers)
13 bellies growl in unison
and the chorus stamps its feet
braai bra braai!
(thula thula se fokken gat)
Ukuziphatha kwabaphilayo kuthunaza amadlozi!*
Dull knifes cut thin strips of meat from the bones
eyes pop out as dirty fingers roughly prod the remaining cavities
digging digging (prospecting as in days gone by)
small hammers appear when persistence pays of and produces a lucky find
a solid gold filling
enough of them and we can make ourselves a shiny calf
stook daai vuur boetie!
Ukuziphatha kwabaphilayo kuthunaza amadlozi!
Here and there a lost ass brays
nudging other stragglers with a snot nose and pawing each corpse
as if it might still find Sampson among the masses
a hand instinctively reaches behind its ears
but its the jawbone that itches
(what philistine cannot understand?)
hierdie donkie weet waar die groot water le
en hy’s hier vir sy date met destiny
Ukuziphatha kwabaphilayo kuthunaza amadlozi!
(* This Zulu phrase translates roughly as: “The politics of the living mock the memory of the dead”)
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