The townsfolk tied strings and strands,
to a child’s feet and hands.
They made the child march and pray,
and said, “Look, that child is a puppet.”
And when that child cut the strings,
“I will dance and say my own things.”-
the townsfolk threw the child onto the fireplace.
“Witchcraft!” “Faggot!” “Tranny!”
So the child danced as flames twisted.
For a brief moment that child’s body,
was the brightest thing in that village,
that had ever existed.
And when the darkness returned,
the townsfolk fumbled around in the dirt-
blaming the child for no longer burning bright,
robbing them of their dwindling light.
Charl Landsberg is a South African poet, artist, and musician.