Father here, Father stalking
the schoolboy corridor
with squeaky shoes
of rubber fear

Father the cynical men,
the powerful men
silent air-conditioned cars
on the tar of morning.

Father pointing
the finger of guilt
pointing the cock of uncaring
into the dry groin
of a land that turns away

Father in us, us in Father
till the day burns long
with the smoke of barricades
no place for the rooster
to crow shiny feathers

Father the teacher and parents,
binding love in the mouth of words
with meaning that chokes
the throat of speech

Father the fist of the city
stern concrete face
kind concrete face
of thirty stories
and each room a life
under double fluorescents

Father in the armoured car
driving jail on wheels
driving dust and blade wire

Father stealing water,
poison in the wells,
poison in the mouth and seed
drying the land of our cattle
ribstick in broken weed
death from the air