Poem: 'visa'

 visa

(For South African poet, Athol Williams*)

 

how similar their fights

fought on a foreign landscape:

a disneyland for nerds

 

for arthur it was an exit visa

and for athol an entry visa

but the sun does not shine for the sun’s sake

and a visa is not issued for the visa’s sake

 

their pigment like gravity still works

against them

stamped and embedded like a dompas*

reigniting the flame of institutionalised anger

born into a history of colonial oppression

and criminalised because of crushed roots

 

elucidate this shameless act of sabotage

in attempts to turn oxford odysseys into exile

despair remains with the defeated

but glory awaits the ones storming the castles

 

* Athol Williams is an acclaimed South African poet and author of “Pushing Boulders” and the “Oaky” series of children's books. In 2017 he was denied access to the UK, despite charming many in the country for describing the University of Oxford as “Disneyland for nerds”. He reapplied for his visa and was eventually allowed to return to Oxford University to continue his studies toward a doctorate. Williams attained his Master’s degree in political theory at Oxford. Williams also holds masters’ degrees from other top universities, including Harvard.

 

* During the apartheid-era, passes were often called the dompas, literally meaning the "dumb pass" or domestic passport.