Sunshine, and the veld is suddenly green.
More than green – feel the -ness-ness of it all,
the lush-ness, avocado-ness, verdure
bottled in a rich seenowwetoldyou-ness
unfolding across a pregnant hillside.
Hatching, emergent, oceanpearlgreen-ness
opens its arms in simple greeting, its
olive glow an embrace, new abundance,
the welcomehomeourhumanfriend-ness
of an elephant’s mountainous smile.
Harry Owen is author of eight poetry collections and editor of three anthologies. Originally from Liverpool, he moved in 2008 to South Africa’s Eastern Cape from UK, where he had been the inaugural Poet Laureate for Cheshire. He now lives in Kylemore in the Western Cape.
Stephanie Liebetrau lives and works in Port Elizabeth/ Gqeberha. She completed a Diploma in Graphic Design at Cape Technikon. Her evocative oil paintings & collages fuse South African women with natural elements to create hybrids that diffuse the boundary between the real and recreated. She explores themes such as Eco-Feminism and remains fascinated by the “fragile hieroglyphics” in nature’s design. Her work is often ekphrastic, inspired by poetry, scripture and sacred texts.
