Mxolisi Nyezwa

For days I looked for my poems
for days I looked for my poems in the streets,
and since I could not find them,
light fell like a flower on the lonely square.
the light sounded the drum of a thud.
beauty came groveling forward
begging,
and children went for days
without food.

Mxolisi Nyezwa

Pastel Drawing by Amitabh Mitra

Southernwood Jacaranda

jacaranda colors in november
violet is not the river nor a street
not even an insidious sky
it’s just another time creeping up trees
at night
past dreams
and lips
a train screams down in
collateral junctions
past known faces
and uncalled remembrances
am i there
have i left
violet is daylight
seeping nerves
patterns of unequal
destiny.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

1860 - 2010 Indians in South Africa

Celebrating 150 years of the arrival of Indians in South Africa with an exhibition of my art, poetry and films at Gonubie, East London, 30 October 2010.

Call for submission to a radical left poetry anthology

and let this sun
shatter in our thoughts
shards, lets pick up again
roofless
skyless
in drought
come
lets strike
lets form
in shapeless rivers
lets ride
a multitude
star again.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Black Boy

black boy
you are alone
south africa shimmers
in the darkness of streets
post world cup halo
finding way into veins
old trees tell tales
black is the sun
lingers long in riposte
in afterthoughts
in crippled nights
in hammering
black boy looks around
freedom birds
peck upon
an unforeseen
order
bullets still
love tattooing
a bluewhitesky.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Ma Ngobo's Place at Scenery Park

ma ngobo lives in the far stretches
of scenery park
a tiny house amidst shacks and shanties
seems to challenge still
an unburnt sky
lush greenery in abundance
has taken over the tiredness
of old thoughts
flaming tyres around necks
and a flaming jungle
are as remote
as long lost anc promises
i often drink here to
the laughter of myths
a rebellion of conscience
seems so far.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Scenery Park, East London

and next to the trees, shrubs and homes
women laughed, loved and drank
a spring evening at scenery park
when seasons excused themselves
joining the revelry
nothingness is here
and the trees revere to it
a sky jumps up in nude
a chant believes in streaking
a sudden heckling
stranger is oneself
stranger is a night
here
blooms
in untold eviction.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

The rainbows last evening

two rainbows woke up
last evening at east london
eyes still heavy in slumber
in rebellion
in unequivocal shadows
clouds gaggled away in
a rush of quarrelsome gulls
about
who is who
more beautiful today
I remembered you at hauz khas
behind the ruins
when you had touched
me with your smile
on such an unlikely day.

Poem and Photograph by Amitabh Mitra

Mdantsane Laughter

mdantsane grows on its own
piece of sky
and land
its birds live there only
occasionally the grass grows
crossing the perimeters
a taxi swerves into another
white collared land
honking madly
passengers laugh
at caged zebras
rushing around in
a strange dress code
trying to shed
its timeless riverguilt
a girl laughs out aloud clutching a tree
back in rural mdantsane.

Poem and Drawing by Amitabh Mitra

Didnt I tell you

didn’t I tell you
there would be a night
a sea
drifting to a far edge
of memory sand
and there would
still be darkness
in random corners
of our woven talk
we shall then merge
in numerous skins
on numerous streets
eyes hawking a breaking storm
when a colored moon suddenly
opens a sky to just another sea.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

When the sun broke in Mdantsane

a sun broke into many pieces
over cecilia makiwane hospital
that day
we all went out collecting pieces
patients held out their palms
colors camouflaged hopes and infections
yonela too smiled
somebody laughed out
aloud
in
mdantsane
again.

Poem amd Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Gary lives in Mdantsane, Poems of Mdantsane

gary laughed out aloud
there is a white man
in his cage
it must be raining down there in Newcastle UK
and the school teacher left his umbrella behind
ha! ha! ha! ho! ho! ho! ho!
rain trickled down his mind
in cold stillness
among his inflamed sulcis and gyris
till a river struck him
his eyes dilated at the strangeness of things
the knobbly tree of all things reaching for him...
today I wondered
even in his disjointed form
he happily gazes at consummation of mortal
beings.

Poem and Drawing by Amitabh Mitra

Nights at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, Mdantsane

and the child gasped
a caged wind screamed
noiseless of a last night whimper
trees swaying outside
in restless tribulation
refused
I asked a late night
for an answer
yet a black sky
revolted.

Graphite pencil and ink drawing by Amitabh Mitra

Another day

an evening stained
with a hurtle of
unassuming talk
louder
louder
they diminish somewhere
close by
tomorrow would be
just another belief
of another
day.

Poem and Pastel Drawing by Amitabh Mitra

Mdantsane to Transkei

in transkei
we drove on roads beyond roads
the sun and the sky set themselves apart
and people there talked about new south africa.
i wanted to get braids done on the
roadside
and dance to hip-hop
with others
being played by a blind musician
his head moving
his eyes behind dark glasses
negating all
nothing has really changed
only the dog among hitchhikers
just wanted to cross the street.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Mdantsane Girls Dancing

the summer wink has left
a stray color shine leaps on an everydaycloud
an everydaystreet
grass flowers bloom around shacks
she touches her eyes
and her hips again
in other patterns
mdantsane moves in unision
i jump out
on an ecstasy river
my long hair
my face rushes
a changing sky
in perfect congruency.


Poem and Watercolor on a handmade paper by Amitabh Mitra

Mdantsane Shirts

Poets Printery, South Africa has launched an exclusive range of shirts with my art featuring the vibrant culture of beautiful Mdantsane. T shirts, Jackets, Ties and Scarves will have the insignia and colors of Mdantsane Art and its Poetry. T Shirts of all sizes are being sold at Rand 100 including postage.
amitabh@amitabhmitra.com

Road to Keiskammahoek

a pink sky suddenly

asked the blue keiskammahoek

mountain

reasons for living

and lasting

so long

a whiff of fern

air exploded in stranger

vicinity

somebody laughed

children

chased a dipping sun

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Keiskammahoek

geese scream

a keiskammahoek sky falls apart

mountains go adrift

sun enters a serenity

meditates the following

day.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Mdantsane Breathing - Celebrating Mdantsane

Mdantsane Breathing is my latest book, a coffee table hard cover lavishly illustrated poetry book which is first of its kind describing in poetry and watercolors the vibrant culture of Mdantsane which is the second biggest township after Soweto.
The world knew about the Soweto Uprising, the Sowetan Poets and Winnie Mandela who still lives there.
The popular news paper The Sowetan remains a mark of courage during the apartheid times and after.
But nobody wrote about Mdantsane and its heroic participation against the apartheid government.
This book brings to you for the first time of a strange life that insists to be told and that persists within all of us who were witness of those struggle days.
A poem and water color of Siviwe is on the jacket flap of this book
Siviwe is a former soldier of Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress.
The book is dedicated to the brave people of Mdantsane.

Wikipedia -About Mdantsane


Mdantsane Breathing
Publisher - Poets Printery, South Africa
ISBN - 978-0-620-46040-8
Price - Rand 760 including postage