I’Ve Come to Take You Home

By Diana Ferrus

Diana Ferrus was born in Worcester in 1953 and completed her high school career in 1972. She completed a postgraduate degree in Womens and Gender studies at the University of the Western Cape where she works as an administrator in the Dept of Industrial Psychology.

Diana is a writer, poet, performance poet and story-teller. Her work in both Afrikaans and English has been published in various collections and some serve as prescribed texts for high school learners. Her publishing house, Diana Ferrus Publishers has published various publications including her first Afrikaans collection of poetry, Ons Komvandaan. Diana co-edited and published a collection of stories about fathers and daughters, Slaan vir my n masker, Vader in 2006. The mission of her publishing company is to publish writers from previously disadvantaged communities. Her company in association with the University of the Western Cape has published life stories of three former activists and unionists namely, Liz Nana Abrahams, Zollie Malindi and Archie Sibeko. These publications contain rich material about South Africas past and some are prescribed texts at the University of the Western Cape.

She is a founder member of the Afrikaanse Skrywersvereniging (ASV), Bush Poets (all women poets) and Women in Xchains (grassroots women writers).

Diana has attended numerous literary festivals locally and abroad. In 2006 she performed her poetry at the Klein Karoo Kunstefees with the Mamela band. They received a Kanna-award for the best contemporary music. At this very festival Diana received a Kanna-award for her contribution to Afrikaans.

However Diana Ferrus is internationally known and acclaimed for the poem that she wrote for the indigenous South African woman Sarah Bartmann who was taken away from her country under false pretences and paraded as a sexual freak in Europe.

Dianas work has had and still has a bearing and influence on matters of race, gender, class and reconciliation. She is popular amongst South Africans of all race groups. She believes in her countrys future and works tirelessly for her peoples emancipation from racial, sexual and class exploitation as well as reconciliation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: May 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456891732

Diana Ferrus

Diana Ferrus was born in Worcester in 1953 and completed her high school career in 1972. She completed a postgraduate degree in Women’s and Gender studies at the University of the Western Cape where she works as an administrator in the Dept of Industrial Psychology. Diana is a writer, poet, performance poet and story-teller. Her work in both Afrikaans and English has been published in various collections and some serve as prescribed texts for high school learners. Her publishing house, Diana Ferrus Publishers has published various publications including her first Afrikaans collection of poetry, “Ons Komvandaan”. Diana co-edited and published a collection of stories about fathers and daughters, “Slaan vir my ‘n masker, Vader” in 2006. The mission of her publishing company is to publish writers from previously disadvantaged communities. Her company in association with the University of the Western Cape has published life stories of three former activists and unionists namely, Liz “Nana” Abrahams, Zollie Malindi and Archie Sibeko. These publications contain rich material about South Africa’s past and some are prescribed texts at the University of the Western Cape. She is a founder member of the Afrikaanse Skrywersvereniging (ASV), Bush Poets (all women poets) and Women in Xchains (grassroots women writers). Diana has attended numerous literary festivals locally and abroad. In 2006 she performed her poetry at the Klein Karoo Kunstefees with the Mamela band. They received a Kanna-award for the best contemporary music. At this very festival Diana received a Kanna-award for her contribution to Afrikaans. However Diana Ferrus is internationally known and acclaimed for the poem that she wrote for the indigenous South African woman Sarah Bartmann who was taken away from her country under false pretences and paraded as a sexual freak in Europe. Diana’s work has had and still has a bearing and influence on matters of race, gender, class and reconciliation. She is popular amongst South Africans of all race groups. She believes in her country’s future and works tirelessly for her people’s emancipation from racial, sexual and class exploitation as well as reconciliation.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Diana Ferrus.

First edition, 2010

ISBN: Softcove      978-1-4568-9172-5

ISBN: Ebook        978-1-4568-9173-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Copyright with the author

Published by Diana Ferrus Publishers

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Highbury Park

Kuils River

South Africa

7580

Telephone: [phone] or 27 21 959-3184

Cellular: 27 21 82 202 3597

Fax: [phone]

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Cover design and layout: Ellen Eisenman (New York)

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

0-800-644-6988

www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

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301874

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

To my writing muse

Creative Writing Course

I’ve come to take you home

The never-ending story

She came home on a giant bird

For those that wandered far . . .

These men

The memory of tables

An ode to the Slave Lodge

The dry days of my childhood

The African Drum

Beyond the Other

In Cape Town Library

Or so we thought . . .

The journey

A letter to comrade Ruth First

Women of the struggle

Twenty years of freedom

Reconciliation

Africa, my heart

On the anniversary of my mother’s death

Mother

Daddy

I remember worry

Dark red flowers

Memories

We will meet again

For Sarah Tait

In memory of Sarah, the

grandmother of my mother

Driving home

That day

A tribute to Rosa King

Diana—Princess of Wales

You spent your last winter with me

For Amy Biehl

A woman’s journey to sanity

Violence

Oh glorious night

Leaving

The Peace Song

A poem without pretence for peace

From the other side

Silent complicity

A brotherhood of men

Once a girl

I shall care for you

Medicine

AIDS

For Jeffery

Alex

Telling stories

On international nurses day

Obsession

Weary eyes

The pen

Bitter coffee

Biscuits

The healing heart

Have I lost you?

The seduction

The aftermath

GLOSSARY:

FOREWORD

Writing poetry has allowed me to live. I would have gone insane had I not the opportunity to write. Over all these years my writing has allowed me to develop a way of existing by reflecting continuously on my life’s journey. It has forced me to look at myself and the world that I live in critically. I am grateful to have a voice.

This book is a dedication to the perseverance of my ancestors who in spite of great adversity left me a victorious story to tell. The return of Sarah Bartmann to her country of birth after 192 years and the role the title-poem, I’ve come to take you home has played in this process, stands out as a highlight in my life.

My gratitude goes to all those who have played and still play a role in my life, those who have taken time to read through my work, fellow-poets and friends who played critical roles in the shaping of my poems.

Finally,