Welcome to 'The duPs' - The website of Paul and Margaret du Plessis - Margaret a former Medical Social Worker, Paul a physician.
They served with The Salvation Army in Zambia, the United Kingdom, India, and their homeland of South Africa. They retired to live in Bromley, in southeast London. Margaret passed away in 2019.
Their children, Catherine and Andre, and the wider family have always meant 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 life 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 Wall
- Details
- Written February 2025
Mend the one who fell off the wall,
Instead frustratedly they demolish the wall
As did Berliners, saying ‘times up’,
While Israelis started theirs
With Palestinians looking on in horror
And Mexicans know it’s on the cards for them
When someone says enough is too much,
While a victorious commander-in-chief
Becomes a defeated politician
So retreats to his garden with mortar-board and trowel
To build a wall which still stands, [1]
Awaiting trumpets on their seventh time round
And down it will come - welcoming all.[2]
February, 2025
The wall at Hall Place, Bexley Heath.