My South African Family by A.G. Silva

A.G. Silva | October 28th, 2016 | a poem a day challenge, poetry | No Comments

Poet Bio

Generalisimo Franco took power,
And Spain became a dictator state.
The loser’s history no one reads,
The poor departed with only hate.

We came from Spain I heard,
So my father’s diaspora explains.
To make a new life,
In a new world of shame.

It was a trade they said,
South African versus Latin dictatorship.
They swapped Franco’s iron grip,
For Verwoerd’s far reaching whip.

Apartheid was cruel,
Mixed marriage was outlawed.
But the allure of the Cape was enticing,
Beauty was the reward.

The Mixed Marriages Act reflected the hate,
My Mothers’ Malay blood was illicit.
My parent fell in love with no regard for statutes,
They made their bed – their passion was complicit.

They had to leave South Africa to marry,
Without friends or family they committed.
A lonely reminder of the truth,
That life was a mountain to be summited.

They could not be seen in public,
The uncertainty would dangle.
Cancer then took our mom,
All that was left was anger.

A mom gone a father strong,
Before she left two boys were born.
A new family in a troubled South Africa,
A new South Africa, a family torn.

Poet Bio


Antonio Garcia is of mixed Spanish and South Africa descent. He is a senior military officer in the South African National Defence Force and also dedicates his time to research as a military historian. He has served in various UN missions in Africa as well as other regional deployments.

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