Welcome to 'The duPs' - The website of Paul and Margaret du Plessis.
They are Salvation Army officers
Margaret is a former Medical Social Worker, Paul a physician.
They have served in Zambia, the United Kingdom, India, and their homeland of South Africa. Now, in retirement, they live in Bromley, in southeast London.
Their children, Catherine and Andre, and the wider family mean a lot to them. Placing Paul’s poems and other information on a website has been a family request for some years. Grandson, David, took on the project and became the website architect.
Please enjoy reading Paul's poems which reflect something of their faith and experiences.
Margaret has researched the life of Louisa Mary Tucker, the first wife of pioneer Indian missionary, Frederick Tucker.
Please use the menu on the left and the search function in the top right to navigate through the site.
Here is Paul's most recent poem:
The Waiting Room
- Details
- Written May 2013
In patient posture, waiting to be called
With hands folded, twiddling the thumbs
Above pleated skirts and yesterday’s fashions,
Then fingering an edition of Explore Kent
Whose apples might make her better.
There's the carry-cot cradle of a febrile child
Hacking with sniffles, but muffled and silenced
With a comforter moistened by a worried mum
With blank stares focussed on nowhere,
Mentally rehearsing what she’s going to say,
But hoping she’ll soon be better.
And the white van driver in over-used overalls
Ready for another day up the ladder
Thumbing the latest apps on his mobile
With a downloaded game that whiles away time
Knocking over obstacles of cyberspace,
Thinking he could do better.
The pink pages of the Financial Times
Come with the banker from his counting house
Bringing an ailing economy with him,
Getting blamed for all that’s wrong with the world
While we eat wholemeal bread and honey
Believing that’ll make it better.
Until the buzzer sounds and a name appears
Digitalised before the crowded room,
So it’s my turn to knock on the door
Though you know that a walk in Jubilee Park
Or round the block might be just as good
And even make you better.
May 2013
In a South London doctor's waiting room.
Image: wpclipart.com