Dancing The Stones by Gary Cummiskey

Napa

Snipes by Joan McNerney

Question: What is the difference between
God and a doctor?
Answer: God does not think he is a doctor
and does not charge for missed appointments.

Eva Jackson: 0118

Tender alerts: poem 3

The Department of Rural Dev and Land Reform
Want someone to watch them, to check them, to fawn
To pursue them, to view them, to check that they are
Of high quality, meeting some internal bar
But not like for limbo and not where you drink
A standard, you ‘stand? In their monthly lip sync,
They’ll be scored for performance, for flair, preparation –
Some guru will mark them on smart presentation.
The truth is this all may be slightly more dry
They will pay for an audit. Again, not their guy.
But how can I help you? All these people with tenders?
With needs in your eyes, services all unrendered
Like maidens bereft sending specifications
Your coy hopes expressed through inert invitations…
And sometimes, you ask for what just cannot be. 
You’ve invited a bid for a crazy melee:
For Provision of the SITA Micro Organisation Placement & Migration Management Service
You shock me so badly it makes me quite nervous.
The service provider must migrate employees
To a new micro structure. I cannot appease
Such a cruel organisation. I give you my leave.

Out There On The Spot by Gary Cummiskey

Pakistan Is Either Good Or Ghastly by Niren Tolsi

"Perhaps no cricket-playing nation conjures the vicissitudes and vagaries of the game quite like Pakistan. Or as many synonyms for “unpredictable” – that essential nature of cricket being so intricately woven into how Pakistan play."

Snipes by Joan McNerney

The biggest thing on earth

is the space between her ears.

Eva Jackson: 0117

Tender alerts: poem 2

The SETA that is boss of all the safety and security
Would like someone to monitor their grants they give to somebody.
Another university – what’s going on! – is frontin’
They need support that will assess their ICT, you bumpkin.
You can’t do it, they can’t do it, you should please just not apply
They don’t need an application from a luddite, not their guy.
I could go on, it’s lengthy. While they say they need a SWOT
They don’t mean an academic, no. At this you have no shot.
Waste water treatment, Laingville. And PPECB
Which sounds like rude-ish noises from a cherubic baby
(But probably prestigious, and I show naivete)
Are saying, that they also, yes they need the ICT!
No – they need someone who’ll tell them how to ask for ICT.
Seriously.

You Know What I Could Be by Gary Cummiskey

Chatsworth: A Book Review by Karabo Kgoleng

"Set in the highly populated township of Chatsworth in KwaZulu-Natal, this collection of 11 short stories highlights working class life in a residential area that was allocated for South Africans of Indian descent during apartheid."

Snipes by Joan McNerney

My back “went out” and did not ask me to go with it.

Eva Jackson: 0116

Tender alerts: poem 1

Train 100 NGOs on wholesale and retailing
(Improbable? Non-profits must have much to do with trading).
NM University’s new arm that brings in money
Are doing literally everything, want expert panel, sonny.
They used to just get funded in some much more passive way
But now they’re doing skills dev, training, property, for pay.
That means they’re also part of a ginormous industry
That’s generating income for all kinds of entities
That used to get their moneys through a rather different wheeze.
I’m talking, yes I’m talking, all about the BEEs.
Quotations are invited for a signal-ish converter
The oldest thatch in Stilbaai needs replacing with a nuut-er
I didn’t make it up, the last one really is a thing
That’s what they said and publicised, an unexpected ping.
The Sharks Board on the east coast want someone to train small business
That’s exactly what I’m looking for so copy, paste, and witness.

My First Visit To The Forest by Gary Cummiskey

Söder Får Sveriges Första Antikvariat För Sci-fi

"70 kvadratmeter sci-fi, fantasy och skräck. Det är den nya given i Skanstull, när Lars Jansson och Magnus Lekberg nu öppnar det första antikvariatet i landet som är helt dedikerat åt genren."

Skyjacked: Kesivan Naidoo And The Tao Of Rhythm by Gwen Ansell

"World-travelling drummer Kesivan Naidoo grimaces as he glugs down a foul-looking fulvic acid brew. When you fly as much as he does, he explains, you need to guard your health. East London-born, now New York-based, Naidoo is back in South Africa for the launch tour of the South African/Swiss outfit Skyjack, as well as to reconnect with family and on- and offstage friends."

Portugese Canned Mackerel

I Don't Understand When You Talk by Gary Cummiskey

Niren Tolsi’s Moving Speech Takes Aim At The State Of SA Journalism

"Journalist Niren Tolsi, awarded the Ruth First Fellowship earlier this year, gave the annual Ruth First Lecture at the University of Witwatersrand on Thursday evening."

2018 Ruth First Memorial Lecture

Fire and Media: Towards a New South African Journalism by Niren Tolsi.

Niren Tolsi On Journalistic Integrity by Mwelela Cele

"Seasoned and acclaimed journalist Niren Tolsi gave the 15th Ruth First memorial lecture on 18 October. Tolsi, contributing editor at New Frame and co-founding editor of The Con, has worked at a number of leading South African newspapers. He writes about social justice, constitutional law and the politics of the judiciary, grassroots mobilisation and the state’s (often violent) responses to it, politics, the arts, jazz, and the politics of cricket."