Saturday 26 August 2017

Ashes of Regretful Pain ~ Mangaliso Xaba

Looking back at the times that we had
Beginning to notice what I did to you was bad.
You have always been beside me
But I just didn’t take the time to see.
The guilty conscious seeps deep into my soul
As it is so dark and can be compared to coal.

I am dearly sorry, that it had to come to this.
To me, giving you a bruise just gave me peace,
I needed you to know who wears the pants in the house.
Every time I had to fold my fist, I forgot that you were my spouse.

I am dearly sorry, that it had to come to this.
I never meant to break your heart into pieces.
I wish I could have understood all your wishes,
Maybe I wouldn’t be standing here talking to your ashes.

I am dearly sorry, that it had to come to this.
I am truly going to miss you.
You did not deserve all the abuse.
May your soul rest in peace.


Mangaliso Mthandazi Xaba [Mangz Nation]

***
Grade 11
***

Wednesday 9 August 2017

Mountain ~ Alex Nyathi

I am a mountain
A crisp winter's night
June
I am criticized for being myself, lonesome
Reaching heights one can only dream of
Simply to escape the concrete jungle chaos
I am natural evolution

Looking down on my problems, the ones who disagree
Like a snow flake they fall, drifting into the darkness
I have no need for the brief highs and devastating lows of drugs
Or the endless but seemingly dissatisfying celebration of the nights

Because the only way to forever be high is to reach the summit
I have my dreams, my 'once upon a times'
I am shielded by the same ambitions I am criticized for
I am a mountain


©  Alex Nyathi

***
Grade 9
***

Pain ~ Uwais Osman

I am a gasp of pain
A midwinter's close of day
An entity bound by a single chain
August;
I am trepidus
Ascension of astral ashes with no assent
Nor a need to ascertain
I am a gasp of pain
I am a heave of suffering

I have forsaken conflict
Walked away from it yet still invict
Inverted insults into intriguing intuition
I have no need of control or restraint
With my withered wrath and wretched rage
I have my calm conceptions
And napalm perceptions
I am shielded by the mind's terrain
I am a gasp of pain


©  Uwais Osman

***
Grade 9
***

Revival ~ Zuhairraa Sardiwalla

I am revival
Autumn
In the park
February
I am rebirth
"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
close bosom friend of the maturing son"*
I am revival

I have built gardens
Millions of seeds lie in moist soil
Gardens that no man may destroy
I have no need of the past because
From the ashes come nothing
I have my art and clay
I am shielded by my self worth
I am revival


© Zuhairaa Sardiwalla

***
Grade 9
***

*John Keats

Stolen Memories & Other Poems ~ Uwais Coetzee

STOLEN MEMORIES

The memories we made
were ours to keep.
And dream up new ones when
we went to sleep.
Happy ones , sad ones,
ones to cherish forever.
We kept them with us
and forgot them never.
Not even when we spoke less
And were talking like we didn't know.
Acting like strangers
Like together we didn't grow.
Maybe I was the one growing,
and you simply moved on.
I slowly realized the truth.
We'd never started but we were done.
Finished before beginning
That's a sad way to say it.
Although it's a sad experience
So the description is fit.
Our memories slipped ,
Into the space where you stood.
You walked and
Started looking good.
You were happier
I was alone.
But I never complained
I'd never moan.
Just a fake smile
To make things seen okay
but I wasn't
When alone I lay.
You left me thinking ,
about everything that day.
You stole our memories
when you walked away



WHERE THINGS WERE DIFFERENT

we wanted a place
where things were different
where crying was normal
and tears were understood.
we wanted a place
where the screams were silence
where the lies were truth
and where love didn't hurt.
we wanted a place
where we could be us
where they could be them
where You could be Mine.
but that place didn't exist ,
the one where we were happy,
where people could understand
without needing to speak.
where the silence spoke volumes
and depression was joy
where tears stayed in our eyes
and didn't have to leave.
we looked and looked
for that different place ,
different like us ,
where I could hide my face.
where nobody would look
for my reasons for being sad
because here my reason is unexplained
but they don't understand that.
they don't understand.
some things are best left alone.
some rocks don't need uncovering.
some boxes don't need opening.
some days
don't need smiles.
And sometimes
just sometimes
we find this different place
where our sadness is normal
and you live at your pace.
where all the people have one thing in common
the common thing being our differences.
where we don't question our change.
don't question us on anything.
where some boxes are left closed
and some days don't have smiles.
where here you aren't judged
for sobbing on the tiles.
for wanting silence
and to live at your own pace.
for silence is all we'd hear
in this oh so different place.



ONCE UPON A TIME

Once upon a time
Before we got old
When we lived the summer
And hated the cold.
When we smiled all the time
and crying was for the weak
and times in class
were nothing but bleak.
Once upon a time
When we were free
when you could try anything
that you could see
when you were friends with everybody
and everyone could play
and nobody worried
about the things you'd say.
How times have changed
Like the leaves on the tree.
And the only person I could truly trust
was me.
I stood for what I wanted
But I stood alone.
And everyone suddenly
Became a drone.
We lived our lives
Seeking the cold
And crying was normal.
Or so we were told.
Now nobody is constant
And everything will change.
If you try to capture the past
suddenly you're too deranged.
Now people don't care
About the one who stands alone.
People don't care
About the one they had to trust.
People don't care about you.
They don't care.
Now they walk around
With hearts all bare
But smiling faces.
Like they don't care.
They go to school
Go home
And leave you there standing
Alone.
Once upon a time
When happiness was mine.
Once upon a time
When things were fine.


©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 11
***

Alone & Other Poems ~ Uwais Coetzee

ALONE


You try to make me feel
like you're there through everything
But I know what's real
I'm just that lonely king.
The king of my world
Because I'm alone in it
and have no one to talk to and nothing to do
Except on my throne sit.
I lie here everyday with
headphones on but nothing playing.
Because the music simply brings the words
That remind me of my pain.
It's simply my fate to be alone in this world
There's not much I can do.
So I'll sit here alone with my thoughts
I'll do me and you do you.
Nothing will ever change
I'll always be the same.
That one lonely person
Who never wins the game.
Who stays inside and ignores everyone
In the fear of getting hurt more.
But however I avoid it , it will always be
That my heart will be sore.
I like to think that you care
And maybe you'll show it some day.
But until then I'll be alone and
I'll always feel this way.
The only person I know truly
is me ,myself and I.
I'll probably live that way
Until the day I die.
This loneliness is everywhere
Through every tendon and every bone.
I guess life isn't meant to be shared.
I guess I'll live it alone.



THE SKY


We wanted to be the sky
and be stared at with awe.
The wholly perfect atmosphere
without a single flaw.
We wanted to ride the clouds
to find today's lost dreams.
To discover so many new things
our minds would burst at the seams.
But sometimes we were the storms.
On the other side of the silver lining.
The rain drops were our tears ,
when we were silently crying.
Silence until the thunder slowly followed
like the "Childhood is fun" talk from dad.
Little does he know that childhood is over
Or is this simply our version where our birthday wish was not to be sad.
We wanted to be the sky
And look down upon the rest of the Earth.
Have them look at us , for once
and not the other way around , since birth.
"You can be whatever you want" and
"Follow your dreams" they said.
We wanted to be the sky but we're simply
It's reflection in our tear stained bed.



REMEMBER


One day when this is over
When were old and turning grey
We'll remember the summers the autumns , the springs
The cold winters in May.
Molded by time, we'll be forced to learn
And gain new memories.
We'll remember the family holidays,
The weeks we spent by the sea.
We'll remember the good things and the bad
When we look back and really try.
We'll be those old people who sit and remember
With the tears in our eyes.
As I think ahead to what I'll remember.
I think only of the now.
Will I remember the pains and aches ?
Will I remember the fakes and heartbreaks?
I survive but will I remember the how ?
My thoughts stay preoccupied
About how things will never be.
I think about what I'll think about
When I'm old and struggle to see.
I think about you and how you never stayed
You walked and wanted to be free.
When we're old and turning grey
Will you remember me ?



©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 11
***

Mangaliso Xaba ~ Two Poems

STORYLINE


The pain I’ve ever felt
Comes back to haunt me every now and then.
The sad stories I’ve ever kept,
Are leading me closer to a lion’s den.
The pressure that I have dealt
Keeps adding weight upon my strength.
Am I still living life
Or I’m just not living right?
Even with my eyes closed
My emotions still pose.
Even with a crowd
My face is always in a frown.
Is this life fair
Or is it just a nightmare?
Nobody seems to ever care
Because nobody can ever dare
To live my life, as it is not a funfair.
PILLS and POTIONS roaming in my mind,
Am I next in the suicidal line?
Is there ever going to be a soul to remember this life of mine?



I MISS HER


Being without her feels like I’ve lost an important key
She said I should move on and let me and her be.
That pained like an open wound being seasoned by a breeze,
It’s still too difficult for me to find peace.
She tells me her man can afford her a weave
And I’m just  a schoolboy bugging her like a bee.
I tell her that her relationship is not based on Love but on a spree,
She thinks she’s made it in Love but she is not free.
I should be intimidated by her as she’s always on fire
But my Love for her is too deep, she’s my desire.



© Mangaliso Xaba a.k.a. MangzNation

***
Grade 11
***