My lovely

Southern Cross

I feel rough, no it is not alcohol related it is life and before I get attacked from all sides let me explain the following, I wrote in the wee hours of the morning.

She ran away from her demons 
She dragged me to mine
We both pretended they were divine
You suck your lemons
I shall cherish mine

Souhern Cross,(Suiderkruis) is a beach in the Southern Cape at Groot Brak Rivier. My older Sister lived there and I went there some Holidays.

At first they lived in a modest house across from Searles where her husband worked

Later he built them a modest house on the beach en then he built a huge house with all the trimmings and bells and whistles.

That was where they stayed one fateful week end when my holiday romance turned into tragedy when my girlfriend died.

It was in front of this house I stopped many moons ago with my new bride. We were going to live with my sister until our furniture arrived. We left hastily because my new wife arranged for jobs for both of us as journalists at a local newsgroup, Knotcraig Group.

We stopped, she took one look and said. "I am not staying here." she promptly got out of the car grabbed a suitcase and started walking down the Road. "My fuck it is a palace, what is wrong with it, I thought."

I should have known then, I only learnt later and yes I was as much to blame for our eventual divorce.

That is what the verse is about and a song from Peter Sarsted, "where do you go to my lovely". My new bride was blond my departed lover was blond.

Someday I shall complete the Poem I feel rough right now. I look rough right now.

I lamented the above on my FB page and why do I need to explain. I need to explain because I disappeared  for many years and many people do not about the time I was away from Gauteng(then Transvaal)

I place an image of my mother and my sisters family with myself and my younger sister in front of The Searles Factory in Great Brak River ,where my sister's husband work

I spent many a holiday there exploring., the river, the indigenous forest beyond the caravan park and of course the Ocean.

There was a shop, across from where the library is now. It belonged to the Van Rensburg family.At one time Mrs. Van Rensburg was the Mayor of the town. She had three children, two daughters and a son. I saw them often in their store and I never really took notice.

I lived very far away in Nigel with my mother. I grew up the two girls grew up and I still visited the place as oft I could. After I complete my two year stint of compulsory Military Service I became a Journalist. There was this blond that worked with me and we eloped for a dirty week end in the countryside. We ended up being married in the nude under a Waterfall at Graskop close to Pilgrims Rest, where we had our honeymoon.

On our return she surprised me by saying she found us both jobs at a Newspaper Group owned by the KnotCraig family along the South Cost of South Africa. I remember the Editor was not impressed. We were young we were in love and off we went to the South Cape.

I phoned my sister and arranged that we could stay with them until our furniture arrived. So off we went and went we got to my sister’s house my new wife refused point blank to stay with my sister who had a mansion on the beach with oodles of space.

My sister phoned friends who agreed to rent us their Holiday home on the Island in Great Brak River so we went to stay there. We borrowed a mattress for the meant time waiting for our furniture.

I was back in Great Brak. I knew Great Brak intimately and our first child was born in George close by. We were happy there Hilda our girl child was happy there until things went wrong and I could no longer to work in the same company as her. I could not work with a boss that fired me after he had an affair with my wife and then reinstated me when I threatened him with a court case.

We should have divorced then and believe me I was by no means innocent.I decided to jump out and leave journalism, got a job, got promoted and was transferred to Pretoria. My wife got a job there as well and we moved but it did not last long. Again she insisted we move because she got a Job in Randfontein for the same company we worked for in the Southern Cape.

Eventually she eloped  with an intern journalist many years her junior.

I went to Malawi recently and stayed next to the lake in the Lifuwu Village an there I met a girl called Ellen. She was many years my junior and worked as a volunteer for an organisation that helps children. I was there only for four days but this girl left a lasting impression on me. She was so like my girlfriend that died that I had to pinch myself looking at her. One small detail she was black my deceased girlfriend was white. Believe me I could have fallen in love with that girl as I did with my Ellen.

I never had any kind of relation with the black Ellen. She was busy and I could barely spend time with her and I am a fat old white critter she would never be interested in.But the memories and the refrain "Where do you go to my lovely...."