Classic Poem

Dearth of vision:
Not in gold and diamonds, nor in steel and iron,
But in soil and water lies the salvation
Of this lamentably neglected land.
Dearth of vision:
Droughts devastate the veld
And innocent sheep and cattle
Perish like whirling leaves
In the ravishing blasts of Autumn:
Rains come, and soil—more precious
Than the rapaciously coveted gold
Richly veining the cyclopean ribs
Of the Ridge-of-White-Waters—
Water—more desirable
Than the buried constellations
That burn in the teeming womb of Namaqualand—
Soil and water, water and soil
Are swept heedlessly, relentlessly
To an insatiable sea.