Poetry and poësie

Photografik by De Waal Venter

Seven types of white

A peeled litchi’s white of an eye;
behind the chamber
the screen on which every day
plays away.

The bony white
inside of a knee
rolling smoothly on its cartilage
until worn away.

The fleshy white
of a fingernail
that reaches out
and reaches out
but is always cut away.

The landscape white
of the palm of your hand
that can hold
that will hold
the colours of the land
and put them all away.

The white you cannot see,
that of your breath –
the sky that enters you
which you then push away.

The smiling white of your teeth
that you use
to befriend the world;
the white without colour
of your hair
that keeps a silent record
of the good days
that have gone away.