The Only Magic We Know

by Marike Beyers (Editor), Ingrid Andersen, Melissa Butler

The Only Magic We Know is a celebration of all the poets Modjaji has published since 2004. This anthology offers a taste of the range and diversity of the poems that have appeared in the individual poets’ collections.

292 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2020

Reviews

[Tiah]

~No one knows how to unpeel me.~ Helen Moffett, Strange fruit

~they'll tether your tongue like they tether the geldings,
but you remain
            unbroken mustang~ Tariro Ndoro, The dance of the mustang

~wings folded carefully.
When I am half-asleep
he will drip blood.~ Kerry Hammerton, The Sleepless Angel

~The silence of absence
Is a great teacher
I should know, for
I learned a lot from Tata,
Who was never there.~ Sindiwe Magona, The great learning

~Alert and ready she lay
listening
to life created inside her
out of no graspable form and void.
A new world.
            And she saw that it was good.~ Azila Talit Reisenberger, In the Beginning

~Her body still heavy
from being home to a baby for nine months
holds her feelings like a basket,
full of knitting.~ Sarah Frost, Blanket

~When my father died
I crossed into another country,
more human than the one I'd left behind.~ Colleen Higgs, another country

~Upright Man
now, we're trying,
quitting nine-to-fives in pursuit of collective creativity
and our colonial education is burning.
It is we who are building and burning!~ Kathleho Kano Shoro, A young debriefing for Sankara

~The waves blow the mind
back to the first sharp pain as
hard men forced themselves in
and buildings bled history
into the soil of time. Now a tattered
cover-girl seduces
visitors to exotic destinations while
the dead walk the streets,~ Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, What the dead say

~I tell myself stories,
Leaving pebbles on the path
so I can find my way home,
one word at a time.~ Crystal Warren, Rituals

*Please note permission to quote lines from poems in this anthology was obtained directly from the publisher, as quoting poems falls under different laws than novels.

[Ilhaam Bardien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful work.

My favourites (in no particular order) :
1. Voice - Marike Beyers
2. Cradle - Haidee Kotze
3. Words - Makhosazana Xaba
4. Enough - Azila Talit Reisenberger
5. Lucky Bean Necklace - Sarah Frost
6. Foolish Mermaid - Crystal Warren
7. Materiality - Isobel Dixon
8. Nouns - Isobel Dixon
9. Paper Boat - Robin Winckel-Mellish
10. How Healed - Karin Schimke
11. Intentions - Colleen Higgs
12. Requiem - Kerry Hammerton
13. Day - Sarah Frost
14. Beyond - Fiona Zerbst