Poem — Unshackled

I envision a South Africa
where shackled potential breaks free
and learns to fly.

Where the warped zinc sheets of corruption
are straightened out into an ethical plane
level enough for hope to land,
sturdy enough for change to rise.

I dream of free thinking.
Of a generation not shaped
by the narrow walls of its beginnings,
but by dreams as wide as the sky,
brave enough to break the pattern.

A land where the weight of generations
no longer dictates the future.
Where poverty is not an inheritance,
but a closed chapter.

I dream of a land
where excellence is not the exception,
but emerges naturally
when young people grow
into who they were always meant to be.

A land where potential does not wither.
Where promise unfolds.
Where hope is not a visitor,
but a resident.

© Elize Roelofse