The soles of her feet when she

sits on the sand

by the breakwater, watching over

               the white boy in his sunhat

               digging, building castles. 
The soles of her (her?) feet

crossed-over, poked from beneath

the blanket – she sleeps on

a pallet on the floor of

the room she shares with

ten other people. 
The nape of her neck, her

white doek knotted there

as she prays on the

beach with her church group.
The brown nape of his neck (the young man),

shirt loose to receive ocean

waves on Muizenberg

beach, his baptism.

His white shirt (in the water)

his white shroud as the

waves turn him over

and over.
The soles of his feet (the

white boy?) flat and sinking

in soft sand, the shallow

waves breaking.
Their bare-feet in the

sand as they sing,

a prayer circle, their white

robes (the men). 
The soles of his feet (the young man)

a room with an iron chair,

the burn-holes, bleeding scorched skin –
the soles of their feet

pale, hardened:

               soft as my untouched palm.


Notes:

In response to Tide Table by William Kentridge, 2003, Animated 35mm film (video and DVD

transfer, black and white, sound, 08:53 min), AGNSW.