Fire Flower ~ Keara Singh

 The world is cruel to us flowers of fire.

They pick at the gardens of the frostbitten land in search of us,

to find us, hold us, steal our flames.

They use our warmth and leave us drained

petal after petal after petal...

We insist we have enough embers to sacrifice 

seeing us withering they still greedily take as we begin to freeze.

                We fall from our phoenix grace

                   Plummeting towards what we promised to never become

Reborn from pain.

     we change.

The twinkle and wonder in our once stardust ridden orbs 

dulled by glacial walls

We cage our wild hearts under bitter bars built of icicles 

to protect us from ever being punished again.

the ice becomes our new home.

Winter flowers,

I now understand why you are so cold

© Keara Singh

Matriculant 2020

Inconsequencial ~ Thokoza Lushaba

Carving my own fate
Into the sand of Life's beach.
Grabbing destiny
By the scruff of the air around it.
Trying to walk around the mountain of Life
Thinking it's a mole hill.
Rappelling across the surface
Of the lake of Self Determination.

Like Midas with his touch,
Everything I grasp turns gold.
While that may be exciting to hear,
All I touch turns out to be gilded,
Not Golden.

As permanent as the present,
My presence is remembered by most,
But forgotten by all.
As relevant as the town I came from.

As you read this, try to act interested.
Do me the honour of thinking of me,
At least for the brief second you've
Spared to look at this scribbled text.
That way, I can finally say
That I mattered to someone -
Even if only for a moment.

I wouldn't dare ask for more,
For fear of disappointment,
Because I know that will be
Another promise broken;

And just like every other time,
I'll be the one that someone has forgotten.



©  Thokoza Lushaba


***
Grade 12
***

Drowned ~ Keara Singh

The Sea,
Once it casts its spells,
Traps you in its waves forever.
You'll never notice you're caged,
Nor notice that this ocean is not your oxygen.
You'll never notice that you're drowning.

For you are too amazed by the beauty of the water
and how it encapsulates you in your own universe of sapphire blue.
For ages you want to swim and admire that bubble it trapped you in.
You'll never notice the abyss it is slowly swallowing you into.

But then,
Your lungs,
they start to b u r n
and suddenly the water is no longer c o o l
against your skin.

the sea,
was never your truth.
It was a LIE.
an imputing dishonesty

like a flash of lightning;
 a wave against the shore

the water was never your home.

Now,
it is your grave.


©  Keara Singh

***
Grade 12
***

No One can Tell Our Stories ~ Siyabonga Dlamini

Broken and sorry

No one can tell our stories

We come in different sizes and shapes

With different bruises and scrapes

Some are still brave and bold

While others empty and cold

In a world of our own

We've all been abandoned and are alone

Broken and sorry

No one can tell our stories

With disfigured bodies and shattered hearts

We have been cursed to forever bear our past scars

Of broken trust and deadly deceit

From beloved parents

Right up to strangers we met on the street

Who took our lives in the blink of an eye

And left us wondering,"Why, oh why?"

Broken and sorry

No one can tell our stories

We constantly relive

The happy moments from our previous lives

Before the unimaginable pain and strife

Before we collided with the soil from which we came

When life was still only fun and games

When we could still rmember our names

Broken and sorry

No one can tell our stories

In old and filthy clothes

With knife slashes to our throats

Bullet holes and axe wounds to the head and chest

We were prematurely put to rest

Some with unspeakable scars too scary

The methods of murder really do vary

Broken and sorry

No one can tell our stories

Stuck in this desolate place

From all walks of life and age

Where days and time seem forever frozen

Yet the door for new residents, is always open

Some are yellow and green from horrible, tragic plagues

With sores all over and pass oozing from their face

Sad, forgotten and alone

No one can tell our stories

We are the deceased children stuck in purgatory...

©  Siyabonga Dlamini

***
Class of 2016
***

Enjoy The Game: 2 Poems ~ Uwais Coetzee

Enjoy the Game


I’m tired of writing depressing stuff
But I can’t write anything instead,
Because we write what we feel and I
Feel exactly what I said.
I know why I feel this way
But I can’t tell anyone why
Or rather I don’t want to
Reveal my secrets so I
Keep them bottled and say nothing
And keep quiet all the time.
I hide my secrets and stay a mystery
And tell me, is it a crime?
Is it a crime to want to hide?
Is it a crime to stay inside?
Is it a crime to change your tide
When you feel a little tired?
To be a secret and in the shadows
And never say a thing
Because we all wish for
A reality in which we cling
To the hope and aren’t hopeless,
To the life and aren’t lifeless,
To be less tired and be tireless,
To live without pain: painless.
In which we take our joys
And portray them with a scream,
Where love goes two ways
And we work as a team,
Instead of whispering our sorrows
And are silently in pain,
To move to better options
And enjoy the game.



Don’t Drop It


We choose to keep going
Like the grains of wood
Like the clouds in the sky
Like the people that could
Have survived another moment
Have survived another day
Have survived another week
If we chose not to say
What may have been the thing
That pushed them over the cliff
That sent them over the edge
But what if, what if?
What if we weren’t so angry?
What if we weren’t so mean?
What if we could have known?
What if we could have seen?
Would it have changed the way
You saw your reflection?
Would it have changed
The mass delusional deception?
That life is good
And life is nice
And blades and ropes
Wouldn’t have to suffice
In this place where
The sky is blue and birds can fly
And tears occasionally
Fall from an eye
And I am not perfect
But if I were then
Maybe I’d have saved you
From dropping your pen.



©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 12
***

The Black Rose: 4 Poems ~ Uwais Coetzee

The Black Rose

In a world of red, white and pink
He was The Black Rose,
Destined to be different
From head to toes.
From sky to ground
He was separate from the rest,
He was forced to excel,
He was forced to do his best,
To get the recognition
The others got easily
And he knew he had
To work harder naturally.
To be ahead,
And to be on top
He had to make them wait,
He had to make them stop.
He gained the recognition
And became the one they chose.
He was the only one.
The Black Rose.

If Only

He closed his eyes and wondered:
Would the world still be fine?
If the things that made history
Had changed along the line.
If black was just a colour
And the plague was just a flu
And the ark wasn’t buoyant
And there was always me and you.
If spiders couldn’t kill you
And Hitler hadn’t felt that way
And Da Vinci couldn’t paint,
Would we have met that day?
If tigers had spots,
If Malcom didn’t care
And King hadn’t marched,
Could I still stroke your hair?
If the sea weren’t salty
And the sky weren’t blue
And love was just a feeling,
Would I have you?

Lines

Two people,
One with a pen and one with a blade
Each person, however,
Wanted to be saved.
One knew words
And one was without
But each in a way
Was spoken about.
A heart needing love
And one that loved too much
But each one, unfortunately needed saving
As such.
Saving as we all do,
Redemption from the pain
And all we ever do
Is try to stay sane.
A pain is difficult to escape
When it’s inside your head,
When it’s inside your mind,
When it follows you to bed,
When it eats your insides
And it dwells in your heart,
When it’s so constant,
You don’t know end from start.
So, the two people,
The pen, and the blade
In each of their hearts
Pain was made.
Each with their weapon
Of choice in their hand
Each choosing Lines
To make people understand.

Nobody is You

Sometimes we feel
that we aren’t good enough
that were always at the bottom
and that we aren’t good at stuff.
But I’m here to say
that you’re perfectly you
and I’m proud that you’ve reached this point
and I’m proud that you grew.
Nobody knows your life,
Your struggles, your kin,
Nobody knows your pain,
No one’s been in your skin.
No one knows what you go through
Every single day.
No one stops to sincerely
Ask if you’re okay.
But you’ve gone through life
No matter how hard.
And you’ll be there till the end.
And you were there from the start.
And you’ll go through every trial
And come out the stronger man
And you rose from every obstacle
Screaming ‘Yes, I can’
And you’ll be there till the end
And you were there from the start.
And nobody can ever be you
And that is your art.



©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 12
***

Blind Sight ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

It is with a deep desire that we will follow blindly.
To get that we cannot achieve easily we will do anything.
For us it's to follow without question.
We will do anything to get that we cannot.
For us to fill our greatest desires we leave everything behind
and put on chains like slaves not knowing where we are going.
We will choose on turn our back on plans for them,
but WHY?...
Because they have what we don't, because they can persuade
our thinking and change the very thing we were planning to do.
Well I say NOT,they are very smart and they can trick you, take you for a fool,
a lab rat to experiment on and test you.
And yet we will not see the test that they had set upon us. 
If they have done that, it means they show little interest in the moments we shared.
It's SAD isn't it, the fact that we will do anything,
and yet will they even care or give an effort enough.
They are greater than us in every way, stronger, smarter
and they are given more love than money, gold or diamonds.
But I'm not writing this to talk about love.
I'm writing it to say that they are WRONG to take us for fools.
You can control us like a puppets but remember this,
they aren't the ones who are amusing the crowd.
They are given credit for their skill but crowds arrive
to watch the show not the master.



©  Nkazimulo Mvemve


***
Grade 11
***

What Happens Next? ~ Naadir Vorajee

Why do we learn?
Why do we grow?
Where do we see ourselves?
Where do we want to go?

Look at us... Moving toward...
with no idea of where we came from.

I am lost

A traveller under a cloudy sky
A saviour in chains
A boy whose freedom's bound by mind
where it only rains

I'm a merchant that has none to sell
But only perfect dreams
A runner that has no legs
A boy whose tears fill streams...

I'm painter that uses black and white
A carpenter of souls
A boy that wants to differ the world
A boy that's full of holes

Oh why do I still want to write?
What get I from this?
perhaps these lines that bound my pen
is freedom that I miss...



© Naadir Vorajee

***
Matriculant 2013
***

Thoughts Lost: Five poems by Uwais Coetzee

Thoughts Lost

As our paths crossed
For that split second in time
I found myself wondering about you,
lingering thoughts aren't a crime.
We never knew each other ,
and probably never will.
But your side glance into my eyes
made my soul stand still.
Flabbergasted by thoughts
of who you might be,
ran through my mind and
quite frankly consumed all of me.
I couldn't help but wonder,
Did it consume you ?
Did it consume you like it consumed me
as if I had the Spanish flu.
Did it infect your every thought
and control you as a whole?
Did you feel a connection,
like a string between souls?
That's the best description I can give
for when our paths crossed.
But that split second is gone forever
and will simply be Thoughts Lost.

Time Lost

I wanted you to know,
before we went away,
how I felt about you.
It's full moon today

We went to college together.
No more to lose and a world to gain.
My feelings are still inside.
It's full moon again.

My feelings stay hidden.
You found someone unknown.
I lost my chance.
Has the moon grown ?

You lived your life
and in the coffin you lay.
You never knew how I felt.
It was your last full moon today.

Why I said hello

Why I said hello that day
Is a mystery to most
But because I said hello that day
I have rights to boast.
I went against my better nature
When I greeted you
But as the conversation progressed
I fell for that ocean blue.
I wanted to know all about you
And hear no words of goodbyes.
I wanted to sit there , under the stars
But stare only into your eyes.
I wanted to know the real you
Not the fake you that others see,
I wanted to know the '4am' you
that you'd show only to me.
I wanted to know you so well,
and to such a degree,
that before you even open your mouth
it would be like I have a 'You dictionary'.
I wanted to be your soul mate,
your partner wherever you go.
And that , my one and only ,
is why I said hello.

Trapped 

Her eyes told me she was trapped,
trapped inside her mind.
Her eyes spoke the words
that her lips struggled to find.
She came to school with eyes all red.
Her pain was hard to hide.
She was lost with no friends around
and she was dying inside.
She was laughed at for crying in school,
they said that she was weak.
But they did know her struggles
and her pain was at a peak.
I spoke to her one day,
when they all left her again.
All she said was "Thank you,
But I cannot remain."
I looked into her eyes
She smiled and walked away
and she didn't even come to
school the following day.
I went to her house
to see if she was fine.
I went to knock on the door
because the house was not mine.
But the door was open
so I walked right in
and the living room was full
of her grieving kin.
When I saw her in front of me
I knew she'd lost all hope
because there she was in front of me
hanging from a rope.

Not with me

Things in life will be.
Life will play out the way it has to.
Nobody has a choice, not me,
Not you.
People will end up where they will.
Your life will turn out well,
or it could be the latter.
Not your nor I have a choice in the matter.
All you asked was: "Who will I marry?"
Tomorrow brings the answer.
Someone and you were meant to be.
But all along that someone
Wasn't me.


©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 11
***

I Wonder ~ Uwais Coetzee

I live each day wondering
How I feel and why
A brewed pot of emotions
Should I laugh or cry ?
I'm happy to an onlooker
No problems at first glance
I keep all things locked inside
Will I tell ? Not a chance
I live each day in wonder
Contemplating life
Wondering "What's the point ?"
"Hey there's a knife"
I could end it all
In the blink of an eye
But I truly wonder
What will happen after I die ?
At my funeral
Will people cry ?
Will I be missed ?
When in the ground I'll lie
Lying whole in the ground
Are the pieces of me
I couldn't handle life
So I took it away, you see.


© Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 11
***

My Boat ~ Uwais Coetzee

Life is an ocean,
a relentless sea.
All people are in it,
including you and me.
Some people will float.
Some will sink.
To survive in the sea of life,
You will have to think.
Survive and be smart,
go with the flow.
Follow life's waves
and as people we'll grow.
Our past is our boat,
It determines where we go.
Our mistakes are the sails.
Will you go fast or go slow ?
We float through life
On the boats of our past
Not knowing where to go
How long will we last ?
Be in control of your life ,
Make sure to be fast.
If life is a boat, be the captain
Standing at the main mast.


©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 10
***

The Beginning of the End ~ Uwais Coetzee

The varnished wood gleamed
As if to mock me it seemed
The end was here but I was not crying
No tears flowed from my closed eyes,
But I could see everything
The clothes, the people,
Their faces,
Their tears.
Flowing for me.
The casket lay open so they could see
And people saying, with tears in their eyes
"He's going to a better place"
"He's free"
From this hell on Earth
It didn't even matter that I had finished school,
Or got the highest degree
Today is the beginning of the end,
It's the end for me.


©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 10
***

Astronomy ~ Nash Aniruth

[Her] name is written on every last granule of sand
In the sky
The vast ocean of darkness
To which [she] brings light,
waves,
and eternal happiness
and [her] smile radiates at the speed of infinity light years
per second
making the stars jealous.
I often find myself pondering...

Can I keep up with the universe?

-Perhaps [she] has become my universe-

For my love resides within [her] soul
The vast darkness
that is my home
Illuminated purely by the celestial-

-packets of energy
Which float
effortlessly
through time and space.

So some day
when you ask me...
What is love?
I'll reply

Darling, love is the alpha
and the omega,
The unjustifiable phenomenon that occurs
within us all.

The radiant energy
and scent of your soul
as it feels my warm embrace
never letting go.

[You] and [I]
and everything
around us

=[We]?

Yes, 'we' are made of love
and it cannot be quantified.


©  Nash Aniruth


***
Grade 12
***

Suicide is Not an Act of Cowardice ~ Zaynab Asmal

Don’t tell me these kids are weak
The weak would never dance the line between life and death
Would never press metal to organ, press end to life
Because the hardest part of a suicide is that final step:
The fall comes after in the dizzying rush
But before that is the knowing that it all ends
That no more oxygen will come
No more kisses or bruises, no more shame or desire
The end stretches to an infinity of uncertainty
In those last few moments, there is a lifetime
To remember each caress and clenched fist
To consider what it would be liked to be locked in a box
Six feet underground, screaming
And those that still chose to jump, to slice,
To dice open their soul to the blank cosmos
They are brave
And in pain
And have been failed
By this world
Because their choice to press delete
To end game. No save. Nothing but blank screen
No credits left to roll over dead body
That choice they make
Is done knowing their souls have already dug their graves
Have already lived in the darkest recesses of night, screaming requiems,
And our split second judgement, our careless comment
(Why didn’t they just ask for help?)
Is a brand that won’t show on the body already burning.


©  Zaynab Asmal


***
Matriculant 2013
***

On the hopelessness of social conventions ~ Zaynab Asmal

I have broken my bones to fit your spaces
I have walked the hard path worn smooth by the smiling masses
I have been patted on the back by empty words
I have stared into the face of acceptance and spat

Because I’m tired of waiting for someone to ignite me
Tired of hoping someone will see me
Tired of forcing myself to feel for someone
When my mind is focused on other things

I have lived in this brainless slaughterhouse too long
And I have come to love myself too much to stay
where my wings will be butchered for the sake of a sun
And my womb is just another sacrifice
To the shining temple of patriarchy

(It’s strange that the first man to kiss me, to repulse me
Is the first that helped free me)

So maybe I did need that burning touch
That unknowingly helpful hand
Because now I know that nothing more is needed
Just my heart, my head, and all my broken pieces


© Zaynab Asmal


***
Matriculant 2013
***

Objectives ~ Pryaska Goorhoo

Objectives through the eyes of a human.

photo credit: Pacific Sunrise via photopin (license)

The day has come.
The sun seeps up from behind the dark curtain of the sky.
The deep realisation of despair.
Your future…one chance…to do everything now.
The viscosity of your feelings overflow with extreme steadiness.
You manifest the challenge which lies before you.
You are like a spontaneous combustion - fuelled, fired and futuristic.
You succeed!
The overpowering feeling of triumph washes over you
Like a tidal wave burying the coasts of a continent.

Once all that has been said,
And once all that has been done,
There starts to play a melancholy melody in your conscious mind
To emphasize the displacement of the purpose of the day, but
With assurance of the next dawn, it obviously will bring with it
a new challenge and desire,
Just like the tides will bring in the wreckages of the tsunami.



©  Pryaska Goorhoo

***
Grade 10
***