Beyond comprehension
arms a-flailing a bit
in front of the stables
out yonder there
where they want to exit

Beyond comprehension
the fellow needs a bit
of old-style educating
his wife-partner has just
given birth

(not in the stables though
as these folks have been
anointed a tad higher
in the food chain
than us other mortals)

Beyond comprehension
perhaps he is standing up
for the lot of women-folks
who go through pregnancy
and childbirth too

Beyond comprehension
perchance he has become
a latter-day gender activist
caring to swop roles
and go through it all himself

(after all what is it that he
and those at the other end
have themselves contributed
in the greater scheme of things)

Beyond comprehension
this makes the news here
in and between election-time
and all that is going on
the man-ruined world over

to me
that is

Beyond comprehension
it is

I am not amused at the Afrikaans SABC2 and the English etv “news”, 6 May 2019.

Beyond comprehension

Beyond comprehension
at the Afrikaans news
or rather at the newsreader
doing the usual

you know the one
the stereotype
as per our official
for-research-purposes-only
forms we meekly fill in

straight-faced she asks
about the bruin stem
(the brown vote whatever
that is supposed to be)
like the vote is shaded
in some way or the other

the journalist she asks
is supposedly non-racial
and does not flinch one bit
or remind us that we are
one and all homo sapiens

never mind our constitution
and the Bill of Rights
and all that is on paper
and all that was fought for

who needs to practise
what we solemnly preach
from election platforms
and in other campaigns

whether it is around
women and child abuse
or any other pandemic

Beyond comprehension
it is

to me
that is

Our early evening SABC2 Afrikaans news-anchor does the everyday, 6 May 2019. Is our silly season not done yet?