Today’s poem has been chosen and introduced by Head of English, Mr Fernandes.

It is by Malika Ndlovu. She was born in Durban in South Africa in 1971, and she is a poet and playwright.

Ndlovu wrote ‘Shuttle’ for a festival that consisted of attendees getting on a ‘Poetry Bus’ around Cape Town, taking in the townships of Khayelitsha and Manenberg. Before we dive into the poem, please could we imagine what this festival would be like? No British rain and mud, no sleeping in a tent, no booming music, just poets reading their work at the front of a full bus. That sounds like an intriguing festival, to say the least.

Have a think about what Ndlovu is doing in her poem. The ‘Shuttle’ is the bus that is carrying the festival participants. Can you imagine Ndlovu speaking these words at the front of the bus? Is the striking opening of ‘Come with me’ tempting and captivating?

Physics fans, there is something for you too. Does Ndlovu explore the notion of time unfolding as we travel ‘Into the next moment’? Does she explore space too, with mentions of the ‘Mountain to flatland’ and the ‘Desert to sea’?

What hope is there when she states that ‘each day is a chance to uncover/ Another piece of the puzzle’? Is this a wonderful way to bring meaning to every single day? Do we think that this outlook has led the speaker to become an understanding and welcoming person, shown by her final appreciation of ‘Our differences’ but also ‘Our common ground’?

Could we see ourselves creating art that is this positive in its message? Maybe this poem has all the spirit and energy of an end-of-term assembly at FHS, in which case, the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’.

Shuttle 
(for the Cape Town Festival 2000 Poetry Bus)
By Malika Ndlovu

Come with me
Into the next moment
Let me shuttle you
But not too fast
And not too slow
‘Cos some of these scenes
You’ve already seen and been
City to township
Mountain to flatland
Desert to sea
Yet each day is a chance to uncover
Another piece of the puzzle
We may have missed before
Some part of the picture we didn’t see
Back into our collective memory
Let me shuttle you
Back and forward
With the beat and the feel of poetry
Celebrating our landscapes
Our inheritance
Our differences
Our common ground