DURBAN COOK OFF 

Boys and girls let’s learn to cook
The chef’s a pro, no need to spook
We’ll all learn good food to make
Maybe even a little bread to bake

Beer and wine flowed like water
Wish the bar had a pint of porter
Starters, main course and a sweet
That my friends, is a real treat

Chickpea and feta pate to start
Come on guys let’s play our part
Chopping onions makes us cry
We’d rather watch the bacon fry

Fresh ingredients are poured in the bowl
Mixing and mashing, we’ll share the role
Cutting bread rounds is an easy task
No doubt for the pate I heard one ask

Come outside and taste you wares
This could be sold at playground fairs
Oohs and Ahs are what Cheffies after
And a silent prayer is sent to St Martha

Back to the kitchen tables we go
Folks it’s time to knead dough
Some will knead and some will mix
Please don’t break the mixing sticks

Milk and eggs and all things nice
Are mixed together in a trice
Put on the stove and brought to the boil
It’s not quite the end of our evening toil

The kneaded dough is nice and fat
It’s got to be rolled it until its flat
Through the roller five or six times
Now to make pasta Cheffie chimes

Nice thin strips are cut by the machine
Did you guys remember the aubergine
Into the pot the pasta goes
Now pour the sauce says she who knows

Four short minutes is all it takes
Soon it will be high stakes
Bacon and carbonara is our pride and joy
The other teams Tomato and Chourizo, oh boy

Ladies and Gents the food’s fit for a king
Sit right down and do your thing
Wash it down with a glass of good red
Too much more will put me to bed

Custard slices are last on the menu
At this really classic venue
Vanilla and cardamom and chocolate smarties
Are fillings for you my fresh faced hearties

With satisfied stomachs it’s time to go
Could have done with a double espresso
What’s the next course we want to know
Our cooking abilities we want to grow

Antony Moller
September 2010

BUILDING HOUSES

Building houses for the poor
Will let them open a new door
Mixing mortar, laying bricks
Good to learn a few new tricks

Wheeling barrows full of dhugga
Brickies shouting hurry you bugger
Trowels clank and mortar flies
Lay those bricks the foreman cries

Breaking backs sweating stacks
Pass the water Harry quacks
Eating tripe which smells like shyte
Bring the beer we’d rather get tight

The foreman’s shouting to go higher
Come on guys get hot wired
Got to get the scaffolding raised
Watch those fingers don’t get grazed

Everyone’s now all nice and dirty
Not to mention very thirsty
Dust in your ears, dust in your nose
Orange overalls just right for the pose

Come on teams the foreman goads
You’ve nearly reached your daily goals
Five hundred bricks is quite a task
For amateurs like us it’s a big ask

At last the boss mans whistle blows
And we’ve worked very hard it shows
The walls are now above window height
Tomorrow new teams take up the fight

It’s all a bunch of smiling faces
As the bus toward Durban races
We’ll remember this for a day or two
As aching muscles our bods don’t do

It’s all for a good cause there’s no doubt
Many happy faces will be out and about
For all I’m sure got some reward
To see those less fortunate move forward

Antony Moller
September 2010

BEAUTIFUL DINANT

Beautiful, beautiful Dinant in the Meuse Valley
High above the city the Citadel stands guard
While the Notre Dame beckons for all to come and pray
Sax and Wiertz contemplate another gorgeous day
Rocher Bayard stands tall as the legend lives on and on
When the great horse fled to safety with the brothers Aymon
Side walk cafes buzz as tourists eat their couques
While barges ply the river with their heavy loads
The caves are all intriguing glistening in cold light
Where tales abound of townsfolk hiding from the fight
The market on a Friday is the place to be
For all the local folk to come and have a look see
A visit to the Citadel offers spectacular views
And must be complimented by a boat trip on the Meuse
Yes, the town of Dinant is beautiful to behold
But please pick up the dog shit the residents must be told
Or else tourists like us will them be forced to scold

Antony Moller 2009