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    The Township In A Crystal Ball
    The Township In A Crystal Ball
    The Township In A Crystal Ball
    Ebook94 pages28 minutes

    The Township In A Crystal Ball

    By Lonwabo Slumchild Mfuyo

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    About this ebook

    Poet’s biography
    Lonwabo Mfuyo known as “Slumchild” in hip hop/poetry circles, hails from Butterworth but grew up in Mdantsane, a township in East London (Eastern Cape). He moved to Johannesburg in 2004 as a young teenager where he explored his love for poetry and music. He has travelled to most townships particularly Katlehong, Thokoza, Everton, Palm Springs, Vooslorus, Dube, Baseline (Newtown) to name but a few and has learnt from giants like Afurakan, Flo, Lebo Mashile, Matodzi Gift Ramashia to gather skills and to discover the meaning of poetry and music. He has always had a love for words and is insightful enough to acknowledge early South African activists and writers on socio-economic, political, religious, emotional, esoteric and psychological issues of the country.
    “The township in a crystal ball” is a riddle-like and thought-provoking collection of poems written in a story-telling and revealing manner. It lets the reader into the heart of the township with poetic imagery. Painting the picture of personalities and reactions to a contemporary South Africa, this collection of poems sheds light on many issues. Ranging from alcohol and drug abuse, political betrayal, to unemployment and corrupt leadership, Mfuyo’s Pan Africanist wakefulness persists on realistic criticism and remains richly factual. The book concentrates on rural and township life, and inevitably the city of gold with tales of love and tragedy. It is definitely an interesting read!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLonwabo Slumchild Mfuyo
    Release dateDec 1, 2016
    ISBN9780620727129
    The Township In A Crystal Ball
    Author

    Lonwabo Slumchild Mfuyo

    I'm an artist with insatiable appetite for metaphysics. I love thought provoking lyrics and absolutely anything with considerable depths. I came from East London (Eastern Cape) RSA and currently living in Johannesburg, show hunting and doing anything in the name of spreading the word. Catch me in book reading places, poetry sessions, and Hip hop circles.

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      Book preview

      The Township In A Crystal Ball - Lonwabo Slumchild Mfuyo

      Chapter 1

      Nothing Like the Township

      Chapter 2

      On Roots

      Chapter 3

      On Spirituality

      Chapter 4

      On Politics

      Chapter 5

      On Romance

      Chapter 1

      Nothing Like the Township

      A Break

      You started blending with abnormality

      Wobbling in negative energy tides

      Lurching as a hopeless drunk in the outskirts of rationality

      Caught by dream-inducing sprites

      In puppet strings of surreal realities

      Cringing before the resolute eyes of life

      As it denies you a break.

      You cuddled a goddess of death near the grave

      And searched an empty piece of your heart

      In that glass smeared with aluminium and dielectric coating

      Wincing in exaggerated pain

      Ends met in shortcomings and ended up drunk

      Between creative suffering and being a novice

      And solutions led to a psychotic break.

      But then Jean Baptiste Grenouille will be alright

      What happened to him either way was just fuelling his rare expertise

      Dust will always be the remains of some stars

      But for now let him find a universe in chimera tales

      In his twenties – seven elves illusion kept him behind bars

      Whatever happened to living for life’s own sake

      Has become its own lines break.

      A Day’s Work

      Global economist web hung

      He gave trends hugs

      Fellow human love tugged

      In his barcode carved

      And empty heart

      He misrepresented words

      A neo rhythm poet

      Was in nursery format

      His fascinating nonsense

      Echoed the pain

      Of a sick order of the day

      Like strength behind goods on a pallet

      Stern as a clergy pervert

      Life itself came from his wallet

      But I guess God himself

      Was a carpenter in flesh.

      A Kasi Weekend

      The entire block emerged from a TV show

      Craving to glimpse the globe

      Of immortality in the soul

      Style and flair crept from popular music echoes

      Provoking kids to show up looking like costumes in music videos

      The hippie nobility is somewhat an eccentric custom.

      Bottles clink and feasts begin

      Till the ancient eye of heavens blink

      It’s a little blow-by-blow, a little stab wound

      A little promiscuity and adventures to the moon

      In little plastic bags of white powder that soothed a lady of the night

      To a kinky youth of a phantom bliss to a living doom.

      You’ve had six too many

      And arose to an illusion of faith in plenty

      Yesterday must’ve hung on over your temple’s ceiling with that

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