Cornered At Traffic Light Poem by Gert Strydom

Union bosses and some politicians
were protesting on television
against a new law
brought in by the opposition
which did hold the unions responsible
for damage committed by strikers,
for harassment to innocent civilians

and suddenly I was back in the situation
where I was cornered at a traffic light
by a bunch of municipal workers on riot
with the police following
and not intervening
and remember rubbish being flung at me,

how a big cockroach was darting
over the motorbike's fuel tank
then flew up
like a kamikaze pilot
searching for self destruction
right onto my leather jacket,

much resembling some union bosses
with spectacles,
with eyes darting here and there,
looking like some of the politicians
totally unstoppable,
above the laws,
before I smacked it
into a blotch and pulled away
driving over a red traffic light
avoiding being mobbed.