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You haven’t met her
Of course, you have not met her,
Loveness, the sunshine of the city,
once the honey-pie of the ghetto,
the sugar-loaf of the township
and now the ice-cream cone itself.

The white mini-skirt clung to her figure
like icing on a cake.

her breasts plunged ram-horns
in the hearts of men.

Her fried eggs broke a marriage contract
now Tito’s home is a village wound
that babbles with the gossip
and the bitter cries of a mother.

Tattered, the children’s bottoms
have taken the hue of ash-earth.

Sam, the little one
has a head the size of two footballs
his bones and ribs
cry for an enumerator.

Editor's Note: Reprinted here by kind permission of Longman