I Remember Those Days

Zanele Papu

I remember when days were dark
Blacks beaten like animals
Treated like dogs
Being black was like a curse
Living a life filled with fear
But still fighting for black domination

I remember when the days were dark
People were dying like leaves in winter season
Their souls carried by the wind
Blew them into the thin air
But still waving up “viva to the land of the blacks”

I remember those days
Where hope was on our side
And apartheid* was our enemy

Ten years later, South Africa
Is a democratic country
I not only celebrate the common victories
But the shared struggles too.
I rejoice when I see how united we are
What a diverse country we have

South Africa, a savior to many sad and hopeless people
A mother to the orphans
Home to the homeless
A mother to all.

*Apartheid: in the Republic of South Africa, a rigid policy of segregation of the nonwhite population.

South Africa

Elinor Auerbach, 16
KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

How can I describe to you
my thoughts about this place?
When an “outsider” thinks of it,
it’s “Big Five,* crime, and race.”

And if you’ve seen some photos,
or sometimes watched the news,
you’ll think of shacks and poverty,
starving kids wearing no shoes.

Or maybe littered cities,
under boiling African sun.
But there’s more to South Africa than all of that—
I have hardly begun.

This country’s full of everything,
it’s got bits from everywhere.
It’s this mix between the cultures
that puts magic in the air.

It’s a many colored quilt,
pulsing with the life
of its millions of citizens—
child, parent, husband, wife.

Sure, all those things I said before,
they of course do play a part,
but once you’ve been in Africa,
it will never leave your heart.

How can I describe to you
my thought about this land?
To understand it you, yourself, must walk
upon South African sand.

*Big Five: the “Big Five” are the elephant, lion, rhinoceros, buffalo, and leopard; sometimes called “big game.” These are the five most dangerous animals to hunt in South Africa.

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