Maverick Life
Hintsa’s ghost: a murder poem in three parts
A poem by ANDREW MILLER.
realisation
let us start at the beginning
let us correct what we all know
let us admit the myth
let us concede:
good people seldom change the world
it is the narrow
it is the shallow
it is the cold hearted
who rape
who steal
who push countries across boundaries
products into arms
brandy into mouths
with a bible
let us start at the beginning…
maybe it will help
con
having shot the man
hands high in the river
the escape failed
they pulled at his teeth
they tried to cut off his ear
they were digging for the souvenir
they were digging for the totem
but of course the best was not from the body
today the family run a farm and lodge
and
on the bed a pamphlet
– family ancestry
but on the bed nothing
nothing at all
of hintsa
or his ghost
memory
the story is left behind
the autobiographies are written
the mythology is nearly set
the brushing
is
very nearly
complete
the con is forgotten
or
the con is ignored:
the murder of a king.
sir harry smith
sir benjamin durban
the men who swept clean
the men who could see
the day the cattle would die.
after all of this
after hundreds
and hundreds
of years
they are,
almost,
all we have left
what a strange
and terrible
thing DM
Andrew Miller is a Jo’burg based freelance writer and poet. He ghost-writes for a lot of fat bellies, CEO and politicians and has also spent a lot of time working and performing on the Jozi street arts scene. Find more of Millers writing at http://periodiccomposition.wordpress.com/.