Keorapetse Kgositsile Poetry Links

Kgositsile’s poetry ranges from the unambiguously political and public to the lyric and confessional. A strong feature of his work is the recognition and celebration of his influences, his friendships with other artists, and, in particular, his deep love of blues and jazz. He has written nine collections of poetry including Spirits Unchained (1969), My Name is Afrika (1971), The Bitter End (1995), If I Could Sing (2002) and This Way I Salute You (2004).

 

Longer Biography

Poetry

Mandela's Sermon

Origins

Random Notes to My Son

The Gods Wrote

Morning in Tunis

Spirits Unchained

Video of Poetry Reading by Kgositsile

http://kenyatta.academia.edu/EjakaitpapaEtyang/Papers/1453864/KEORAPETSE

mirror of my pain and purpose
this blood we demand
is the flow of life
we must bleed yes
there is no birth without blood
if they call us insane let them
words will not kill us
if they say we are not poets let them
our poetry will be the simple act
the blood we bleed
moulded by pain and purpose
into a simple
do not fuck with me
your shit is going up in flames
here and now.

Kgositsile has worked in various African National Congress departments and structures both above and underground. This poem is from his collection, If I could Sing. Keorapetse Kgositsile remains one of the most prominent South African poets whose protest poetry has achieved national and international recognition.