Empty ~ Nishka Ramkhelawan

Source Unknown

I am empty without you .

I am a vacuum

that will always generate

an overpowering feeling

of purposelessness.



I am still

the silence is like a predator

preying on every last

bit of my existence.



I reach out for your help

yet I soon realize that

I am screaming into

shattered eardrums.



I am drowning in slow motion

only to be resurrected

to drown yet again.


©  Nishka Ramkhelawan


***
Grade 11
***

Who Is She? ~ Neha Singh

Who is she?
Why is she here?
What is her purpose?
Is she happy?

So many questions come to mind,
Just after one quick glance.
Then the judging begins...
You didn't care to wait for the answer to any of your questions.

Then you hurt her,
Slowly picking at her imperfections.
Did you forget that she has feelings?
Did you forget that she is human to?

We all do this,
Sometimes without even noticing.
What if you were her?
What if she was you?

So many questions,
So little time.
I just want you to understand,
She is like a porcelain doll.

Fragile.
Beautiful.
Easy to look at.
But also easily broken.

And that's exactly what you did.
You broke her.
Tormented her.
Made her feel insecure.

Then the cycle starts all over again.
No one bothered to know her,
Talk to her.

But the day she was gone,
The day when everyone found out what you had done
You turned around,
Confused,
Unaware
And asked
Who is she?


©  Neha Singh



***
Grade 8
***

Faded ~ Nishka Ramkhelawan

You just rest there,

calmly sewing your soul

 to your sins.



Have you no conscience?



Your misdeeds are

a compass

steering you in

the wrong direction.



The last remaining

pieces of you ,

the only remembrance

I have left

slowly disappear and

progressively float away,

out of my reach.



As I try to

recollect what

is left you

I soon realize that

you have vanished.


©  Nishka Ramkhelawan


***
Grade 11
***

The Doctor's Waiting Room / Ambition ~ Minenhle Hadebe

The Doctor's Waiting Room.

The doctor's waiting room.
The room full of mystery
And the fear of diagnosis

I hate the doctor's waiting room
No, I have a fear of the doctor's waiting room
It's been a driving force in my life,
As long as I can remember
Yet when you look closely,
You'll find that it is just a room
Meant for waiting


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Ambition

My ambition in life is not wealth,
power or high social status
my ambition is simple enough
I shall not run after riches


©  Minenhle Hadebe


***
Grade 8
***

I'm Sorry ~ Momelezi Mdingi

I'm sorry that I'm human
I'm sorry that I have a heart,
which I have no control over
when it comes to you

I'm sorry that you're always on my mind,
that I'm always wishing you could be mine
I'm sorry I can't resist your beauty,
that when you talk I listen,
because the sound of your voice
doesn't leave me much of a choice

I'm sorry I believe dreams come true,
but that was proven to me the day I finally met you

I'm sorry that I want you so bad
that if death was the only way to be with you
I would dig my own grave

You might hate me for the things I do
You might hate me for the things I say

But every beat of my heart
pumps blood filled with my love for you,
blood filled with the determination to get you

So all I can say is
I'm sorry.


©  Momelezi Mdingi


***
Grade 8
***

Snake! ~ Nosipho Mtshali

In places far and near
All over the entire world
Lives the most dreaded creature
Snake!
Passionate to find his food
Green with envy
of that sly beast
that got to his delicious feast first
But when you take a closer look at this interesting figure
You'll realise you shouldn't fear.


©  Nosipho Mtshali


***
Grade 8
***

Abandoned ~ Grade 8 Group Poem

You were the one chosen to carry me
You were the one capable of loving me
You were the one to raise me
You were the one to enlighten me,
Brighten my days,
Show me right from wrong

But then
You let me go
When people said
"This is your child'
All you said was "So"

I always wonder
Who are you?
Where are you?
The woman who's blood
is pumping through my veins
The woman with the
love that has limits

I don't know you
Will I ever?
Only you can answer that
Because you left me

Abandoned!


Nosipho Mtshali 
Samke Mvelase 
Momelezi Mdingi
Muhammad Bux


***
Grade 8
***

Strangers Again ~ Chichi Kamushi

We were inseparable
We were like brother and sister
Until we drifted apart,
We became a definition of loneliness.

Our bond was broken
And not a word was spoken
No communication whatsoever
Memories started to fade away forever,

You knew everything about me
My fears, favourite things and what I wanted to be
But we went from strangers to friends,
And back to strangers again.


©  Chichi Kamushi


***
Grade 8
***

Humanity ~ Nishka Ramkhelawan

And in the end

we are all just human,

each one of us

is like a single grain of sand

laying on the beach.



Humanity is multi-faceted

Sometimes it’s exquisite,

sometimes it is unpleasant,

and sometimes it is just low.



We extend and inhabit

 until there are no more

 lingering resources,

and then extend  yet again.


©  Nishka Ramkhelawan


***
Grade 11
***

A Farewell to My Classmates ~ Samke Mvelase

As I sit here in class

I observe my dearest friends

and look forward to the year coming to an end

we had so many moments together

most good and some bad.

Those blonde moments we had

Mostly, just all the memories

I will always remember the good times

and erase the bad and all the hate

with happiness and sadness

we all go out the door.

With great hope and expectations

for the future .

I will never forget my crazy classmates

and the quiet ones.

©  Samke Mvelase


***
Grade 8
***

'Til We Meet Again ~ Neha Singh

You told me not to cry when you were gone,
But this feeling's overwhelming
Its much too strong.

I'm missing you like crazy.
I now feel this emptiness,
Like something's missing.
Then I remembered,
It's because I lost you.

Grief has taken over me.
I didn't want to lose you...
And what about goodbye?
Did you forget all about that?

Now I'm left with discomfort.
You were my confidant.
You were my other half.
But most of all,
You were my best friend.

Our friendship was forever,
But it pains me that we aren't together.
I need my best friend.
I need you.

Not one day passes that I don't miss you,
That I don't miss your presence.

But the day will come,
When I will meet you again
In the afterlife I guess.

I'll be waiting for that day,
When we are finally reunited.
I'll have my best friend again,
And then maybe I'll be complete once more.


©  Neha Singh


***
Grade 8
***

Heartbreak, Heartache ~ Grade 8 Group Poem

Heartache...
Heartbreak...
That's what it felt like,
To be discriminated against.
And for what exactly?
For just being me.
So what I like the same sex.
So what I was attracted to you

Isn't happiness all that counts?
So why take my happiness away?
Take me away from you.
Why make me unhappy?
Discrimination shouldn't,
Taking you away from me.

Same sex.
Same love.
This should be okay to.
It's nothing new.
Think of the future,
In with new.
Out with discrimination,l
Take your opinions to.

I understand now,
Equality is key.
You are you,
And I am me.
I shouldn't think this way,
I guess it should be okay.
I'm done with discrimination,
I want equality to.

So why be reluctant to accept us?
If you can be,
Why can't we?



Jessica Gibbons 
Neha Singh 
Rachel Sinclair 
Sajna Ramdin
Jadida Kalim 
Abdur Asmal 
Nirvay Parthab


***
Grade 8
***

Time ~ Palisa Molefe

 My mother once asked, what is the time
 I stood there young and innocent
 not even knowing how to rhyme
   
 I thought to myself
 what is the time?
 is it time for laughter
 is it time for tears
   
 I thought and thought
 and then I realised
 it was time to think
 about time
   
 was it ever a crime
 just to sit
 and think about time?


©  Palisa Molefe


***
Grade 8
***

Afraid ~ Aphelele Nxumalo

I am afraid of what might become of me

I am afraid of what I will gain and what I might lose

Afraid of the good and bad

That will, and have happened

What will become of me?

I have been so many places in my life and time

I have wished that this tomorrow 

Will be different than the one's I've experienced

Can't it be a better tomorrow?

What lies in my tomorrow ....

Must be a long-term keeping so I won't have to borrow

Peace and war that runs in my mind

Thinking that, will I ever be kind ....

What will become of me?

I lay in your arms to feel insecure

I am the one who sees deep in your soul 

Yo find the missing and make it whole

For I love thee till depth, breath and height

For my soul can reach for you when feeling out of sight

What will become of me?

You play my heart to a beautiful beat

I still stay in your heart with my special seat

The darkness and I always fight

Will I ever get to see the light

What will become of me?

Life plays a game

That has no-name

Nothings different its all the same

I ask myself, who can I blame?

For a lot is running in my mind, but in the end it all came ...

©  Aphelele Nxumalo


***
Grade 8
***

Thoughts of Life ~ Natasha de Jong

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT,
NO, ACTUALLY GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WORK HARD
AND NEVER GIVE UP
HONESTLY
LIFE IS HARD
LIFE HAS ITS UPS AND DOWNS
BUT WE ONLY SEEM TO NOTICE THE DOWNS

ONCE AGAIN LIFE IS HARD
BEING ABUSED SOCIALLY
BY FRIENDS
THEY ARE ONLY WITH YOU
IN YOUR SHINING HOUR
BUT SEEM TO DISAPPEAR
IN YOUR DARKEST HOUR
BUT WORST OF ALL THEY LEAVE SCARS
SCARS THAT NEVER HEAL
WHY
MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE IT'S DAMAGE
DONE TO THE MIND AND SPIRIT
NOT THE BODY

AGAIN LIFE IS HARD
BUT IN LIFE
I TOOK ALL MY BRUISES
I TOOK ALL MY LUMPS
I FELL DOWN
AND STILL GOT RIGHT BACK UP
IN LIFE
WE ALWAYS WANT TO BE THE BEST
WE ALWAYS WANT TO BE POPULAR ONE
BE THE PRETTIEST
OR SEEM TO BE THE RICHEST
JUST SO WE CAN BE LOVED BY CERTAIN PEOPLE
WE CHANGE OUR SELF IMAGE
WE WEAR MAKE-UP
BY DESIGNER CLOTHES
AND GET THE LATEST PHONE

BUT SOMETIMES
YOU JUST HAVE TO FOCUS ON YOUR OWN LIFE
AND IGNORE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY
BECAUSE IT'S YOUR LIFE
HATERS WILL ALWAYS HATE
SO KILL THEM WITH SUCCESS
AND BURY THEM WITH A SMILE


©  Natasha de Jong


***
Grade 8
***

I am me, I love being me ~ Sphelele Majola

I am fearfully and wonderfully made by God
I was not made for you to be the judge of me

I was not created to please people
neither was I created to tease people

I am me
I will change for no one
and I will let no one rule my life

I am a wonderful individual
and not your personal slave

I may have flaws
but so do you
Nobody is perfect

No one is given the right to judge others
Or to force them to do something that they don't want to do

All those artificial stuff may make you feel beautiful
But beauty is only skin deep
It's what's inside of you that matters

I love being me...
Imperfect as I am!


©  Sphelele Majola


***
Grade 8
***

Stranger's Corner ~ Mika Datadin

There, in the dark corner,
There's a stranger
He seems familiar, he seems calm,
He doesn't seem to be a danger
I'm sure his name starts with a "C"
I'm not sure where I know him from
It's quite worrying
To add to it,
He's getting up
Coming towards me,
Shoulders slumped,
Head bowed
I don't feel frightened though
I have faced more threatening people
And those people, were not even my foes
"That wasn't right," he said
I asked him; "How would you know?"
He simply smiled and whispered
"I learnt good from bad long, long ago,"
It suddenly came to me
I know his kind
This is no gloomy room
This is my mind
And he is no stranger to me
This is not nonsense
I know his name
He is conscience.


©  Mika Datadin


***
Grade 8
***

Midnight Walk ~ Yusra Asmal

It was midnight dark

And me alone in a park

Along came a gruesome creature

With fiery eyes and a frightful feature

He stopped in front of me

I looked at him, nothing but a flea

I ran along

He followed singing a song

“You’ll come with me

As should be

You will make my dinner,

Which’ll leave me no thinner”

Along came a sudden blow,

And that’s all I know


©  Yusra Asmal


***
Grade 8
***

Life of a Springbok ~ Keshlin Naidoo

There runs he...
Hungrily through the precarious bush-veld.
Growling for prey
but none to be seen.

Cubs run and play,
but lion and lionesses are not seen.

What a summers day
as elephants quench their thirst thoroughly
at the wide wavy lake.


Bang, he falls,
then mourns out loud.
Oh, what a surprise!

Hunters are seen.

There is he,
dragged by them to their huts
and hanged,

He dries up,
they cheer up.

"Delicious dry meat," says them.


©  Keshlin Naidoo


***
Grade 11
***

Time Will Tell ~ Nishka Ramkhelawan

Perhaps in time

I will learn

to forgive you,

And one day I will

accept you with all

your pride and arrogance.



I was blinded

by your words

and refused to listen

about what others

had to say.



Perhaps it wasn’t my place

To try and change you

into something

you are not.



I tried to bring out

the best in you

but maybe there was none.



Because even in a world

full of good

there is bad,

even in the most darkest

circumstances there is light

and even in the rhythm

of my heart that

no longer pounds...

there is you.


©  Nishka Ramkhelawan


***
Grade 8
***