I WISH THEY COULD RISE.
By DarqOuwPoet

I wish they could rise…
I wish the dead could rise;
To witness what has become of their sacrifice.
To witness what their least hard-earned victories has become.

I wish the slain could rise…
I wish those whom were swallowed by the 16th of June 1976 could rise;
To come and tell their tales with no lies.
To come and witness what has become of their struggles.

They were brave enough to stand against being fed education through a single medium.
They were brave enough to make their voices heard under the oppression;
Where their medium didn’t matter but only the oppressor’s…
I wish they could rise!

Constitution hill knows a lot more than what is told.
Class of ’76 stood firm in the cold;
Not knowing that today things will turn out like this.
I wish they could rise, to come and witness…

I wish Z.H Peterson could rise;
To come and witness that today, the day of his demise is turned into an entertainment day.
To come and see that the image of his lifeless body in M Makhubo’s hands has now become;
An invitation to gather the youth in pubs and taverns, and such ravels.
I wish they could rise!

Oh! Class of ’76.
Today, their efforts do not matter anymore;
As today’s youth live recklessly, fighting each other instead of the system.
Fighting lectures and teachers, killing one another instead of inequality.
Drinking their dreams away, abusing their youth days.
They dig foreign history than their own, till their heads get blown.

Today, the ‘rents send their offsprings to hoerskools though they know!
Oh, 16 June ’76 dusked dreams of dreamers and leaders.

I so wish…
The dead could rise…

© O.Moloko 2022, All rights reserved.

#DarqOuwPoetry @darqouwpoet