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:
Down and Out
- Details
- Written December 2025
Some come in, others out,
Some are made welcome, others chased out,
It's a place for going up, and going down
Onto the streets, a pavement, even the gutter
Where yesterday's leftovers find their way
Under the cardboard, into the sleeping bag.
While others thrive in a society built for wealth,
Opportunity multiplying into success
In a city throbbing with progress
Shooting its high-rises higher and higher
So, the contradictions of haves and have nots
Become uncomfortably more obvious
Until we drown their sorrow in our oblivion.
San Francisco
December 2025