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Zama Madinana: Park Station

park station

johannesburg
frowns
with cold
this morning
& a sensitive nose
collides
with
the yelling armpit
at park station
we are all makwerekwere
here
zulu
ngamla
shona
tswana
vhenda

whether you came
by gautrain
galo
or city to city bus

———-

an ode to braam

braam rises
to kiss
the unclothed skies

leaving park station
& joubert park
behind

yoruba collides with shona
in biccard street
& a smell of zol rules the air

rea vaya bus amper hits
the nyaope addict
in de korte street

car guards
trying
to catch the fattest worm
outside burning hair salons

bricklayers
hanging from skyscrapers
& alcohol advertisements
blessing giant
billboards

men in suv’s
poaching wits students
at kitchener’s

the underpaid blacks
consoling themselves
with double shots of hennessey
at bannister hotel

but at night
braam is caught
between hillbrow thighs
quenching sexual thirst
———-
Poetry: Zama Madinana
Image: SA Tourism (remixed)

Zama Madinana
Zama Madinana
Zama Madinana is a South African poet, based in Johannesburg. His work has appeared in The Shallow Tales Review, East Jasmine Review, Olney, Poetry Potion, Voices of Africa and other literary publications. Zama’s work focuses mainly on love, politics and social issues. In 2021, he won the third prize of the Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2022. His full-length poetry collection, ‘94 was published in June 2023. In addition to regular performances and readings in Johannesburg and across South Africa, he has performed his poetry in various countries including Botswana, Mozambique, and Lesotho.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Blessed work Zama. You really paint a picture with words. I especially like these works because I resonate with these two spaces as a child from KZN traveling to JHB, park station becomes a home and seeing it evolve over the years, becoming a home to so many other people, you wonder how one can claim that space to be their own when there is so much influx of the ‘other’ with so much movement and action…I really appreciate your skills…

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