And so the sons and daughters of Mother Earth
descended on our airports.
How pleasing to the soul witnessing
global smiles brightening up our cities.
And so used to navel-gazing,
we could not believe our eyes.
How pleasing to the soul witnessing
a ball rounding off colours and tongues to One Family.
And so the FIFA Contest went on.
Clans and tribes from all pockets of the globe
roared and buzzed with vuvuzela in our hives.
How pleasing to the soul witnessing stars dazzling our shores.
It felt like an African wedding: Bride
challenges bridegroom for a dance; crowds
ululate and whistle.
Zuri sana, we all dance and win!
And so the FIFA Contest went on.
Aficionados groaned, swore and threatened.
Losers broke and drooped;
sobs shrank them away for a hara-kiri.
And so desolate
sons of Mother Earth packed their bags.
How paining to the soul witnessing a toy
whittling down, weeding out boys from the World.
And so the FIFA Contest rolled.
Victors hugged one another into a ball,
waved, swung, waggled and swaggered around.
Großartiges Volk, feu de joie, Großartiges Volk!
And so the FIFA con-test left us
with stillborn Zakumi and Diski-dance.
What a rich harvest of red ants
and Blikkiesdorpe we won out!
Zuri sana: M’zuri sana (Swahili) is in answer to greetings and means “(I’m) very well.”
Zakumi, Diski-dance: Official mascot and dance of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Red Ants: Notorious group of security guards employed by the South African government to tear down illegally erected shacks and remove squatters from illegally occupied buildings or land.
Blikkiesdorp (literally “Tin Can Town” in Afrikaans): Temporary relocation camp in
Cape Town, lacking basic amenities and with a high crime rate, consisting of corrugated iron shacks.
Angifi Proctor Dladla is a poet-playwright, writing teacher, and coach.
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