Turtle

by Ockert Greeff

You couldn’t remember how Dad died
You were there
But you had many different stories

All of them different
But in all your stories
You would say that there were three men outside
Who came to help

And now that you are shedding your memories
Like an old skin that has become too heavy to carry around
Now you’re pulling back into your shell
So that we can see nothing of you, not even your old head
Wrinkled and slightly deformed from all the time that has passed
And all the experiences you’ve had

Now,
I want to think you’re not retreating
Into that shell
Never to stick your old head out again
I want to think you’re heading out to sea
Like a baby turtle with legs full of spastic life
And there are three men at the ready
At the edge of the waves
Watching over you as you wade into the blue.

Share!

Ockert Greeff

Ockert Greeff, a South African Canadian drummer, uses drums and words to create rhythmic poems, relying on some of the earliest oral and musical traditions – drumming, storytelling, chanting and rhymes. Born in Namibia and raised in a small town in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, he earned his BA Hons. in Afrikaans Literature before settling in Johannesburg where he was the co-founder and drummer of the Afrikaans cult band Die Brixton Moord en Roof Orkes. In Montreal, Canada, he has recorded with underground bands such as Light Bulb Alley, Sawtooth and Death Drive. His solo poetry and drumming work has appeared in Ons Klyntji and has been shown at various poetry film festivals, including the Raleigh Film & Art Festival and the Small File Media Festival (Simon Fraser University).

Vol. 6 No. 1

Summer 2023

Turtle