Azanian Love Song

Of reason and discovery

62 Don Mattera Of reason and discovery After the killings of black miners at the Carletonville Mine in the Transvaal I have dispensed with reasoning It blinded me to many wrongs Nearly robbed me of sanity Once I reasoned with the whiteman’s evil, Saw his crimes against my people As weakness and human folly God would right the wrong, they said But nobody said when I have dispensed with reasoning It clouds a blackman’s vision Blunts his wrath, makes him tolerant of oppression I have discovered, yes The reason for all this hurt This long deep searching of scanning the godless sky For the suspended reply I have discovered, yes The fault not in the god nor in the pain But in the sufferer Who makes virtue of his anguish Waiting meekly on the god for deliverance Though white scavengers rip life From battered black bones Azanian Love Song 63 I have discovered, yes The yoke is comfortable When the belly is full And there is time to pray for peace While police guns rattle on mine dunes In the name of white survival I have discovered, yes That an ounce of gold Exceeds the value Of a blackman’s life And that there is no more time To reason and to pray I have discovered, yes ...