Poetry

Nardus Engelbrecht/AP

By

Chestlyn Draghoender

No-one Left Out

Our country in crisis-

Institutions close their doors.

Fuming student protestors

from different regions demand

free education for the poor.

Things are set alight;

schools, libraries,

an office, even a car.

They want to be heard.

Some sing, and some shout.

They want

“…no-one left out.”

If higher learning is a ‘privilege’,

then a privilege for who?

Don’t the poor get a chance to learn too?

Fees Must Fall

Free?

What’s free?

Show me, so I can see.

They say higher learning is a ‘privilege’.

But, a privilege for who?

For those born with a silver spoon

in their mouths?

I may be poor, but on my own I am

more than able to survive.

I don’t need you to keep me alive.

To feed me every time I open mine.

I take care of myself; got a job too.

So, I don’t expect freebies

or pocket monies.

I can work my way up

like everyone else.

If I could only earn enough

to afford my own tuition.

Fees Must Still Fall

Why do they

make us wait

before they lead us?

Make us beg before

they feed us?

Leave us

when we need them the most?

Please, can’t they cut

us some slack?

We have enough to worry about…

Like high food prices

the cost of living.

Now, they deny us free education

like we’re undeserving.

Chestlyn Draghoender

Chestlyn Draghoender is a South African poet and activist from Cape Town. His work has appeared on Poetry Potion and The Commonline Journal. Chestlyn loves reading and good music.