For P ~ Amahle Njilo

Let the broken clouds in the sky carry his wasted tears for the woman he once lost,
And let the embers of the fire crackle of his scattered pain.
Let the emblem of his love be his heart that he so proudly placed in broken hands.
I see him.
I see the deep oceans of heartache in his eyes.
I see the manmade dam, overflowing
Threatening to flow hastened over the walls.
And his smile, faint.
When last did I see you smile?
The mirror in front of him, it couldn’t mirror what he wanted to see.
You can never retain the knowledge of something you already know.
Because you see what you think,
And you think what you feel,
And he felt nothing.
He was numb.
He was hers.
She moved on.
She held the world in broken hands.
She was his world.
And, as the nymph replied to the shepherd
That love, is somewhat materialistic.
It was never meant for us.
We belong to the world of animals.
I live for him, he lives for her.
I die for him, he dies for her.
I cry for him, he cries for her.
Do nothing for love and it will treat you like a gem
For love never replies to its call:
It only comes when you’re nothing but a shell of your former self- your happy former self.

Amahle Njilo

***

Grade 11

***

Horned Lady

Horned Lady
Why was I born?
Was it for the satisfaction
Of hurting your “dear Son”?

Horned Lady
Why was I born?
Was it to fill my head
With suicidal and regretful thoughts?

Horned Lady
Why was I born?
Was it so I could listen
To the anger and hatred toward my father?

Horned Lady
Can you not see
I am in pain?
Physically, emotionally by your hand

Horned Lady
You have done much to me
But through all you have done
I cannot hate you.



by Hurting Son

***
Grade 11
***

Three Poems ~ Lindokuhle Mbatha

Life vs School

We see life at different perspectives
but we never see life as something good
why should it always be something sad
why is today's youth so depressed
Depressed because we taught how to be like that
Why can't schools teach us how to be
a good entrepreneur or something better
But we get taught about things we'll never need
Life and school is all the same
but it's how you look at the two different perspectives

Mind vs Heart

We choose in two different ways
Think about it
There is love at 1st sight
There is love after being friends with someone
Looking at her for the 1st time
made me think she was the one
when i never knew what was going inside
that mind and heart of hers
Knowing she was one beautiful girl
everyone knew and loved
but if only they knew
what was going on in that mind and heart
Many people like her body and smile
but they never know what is going in that mind and heart
Where does love reflect?
The mind or the heart?
That's one question we should all ask ourselves.

What is Happening in This World?

Why are young women being treated like this?
They are our future but yet we destroy them like this
Young women are being humiliated and left alone
and some don't even get the chance to be able to open
those precious , God given eyes because their souls are taken away
What is really happening to this world
What happened to unity
What happened to equality
This world is turning into something else
We state to love the ones we love
and say we don't want to lose them
yet we do everything to destroy and lose them...
What is happening to this world?



© Lindokuhle Mbatha

***
Grade 11
***

Saviour ~ Mika Datadin

You say over and over again
that You're ugly, un-pretty,
unlovable,
and that is only because
You do not know what i see in You,
love

You say over and over again
that You're not worth much
but Darling, You're worth more
than the rarest gems in the world
tripled, to me

You say that there is nothing
special about those deep brown
eyes that i consider Your holy gift
They may not shine like stars do, but
They are that enchanting darkness
without which the stars could not
burn so bright

You'll never know
what love i see in You
You'll never know

You'll never know
how unworthy i am
to behold such an Angel
as You


© Mika Datadin

***
Grade 11
***

The Flower That Grew ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

with roots embedded in the world she stood
beautiful & rare, I could not compare her to another
rooted to cement she pushed & pushed,
her way from the soil that was under

the flower grew from tough terrain,
but inevitably that did not strain,
as her beauty she still maintained
ever shining, even through the harshest rain

you wanted this more than me
so how is it that i, lovingly
want to make you grow more & more,
from subtly a flower into more like a splendid tree

there's a strong relationship, between a gardener & his flower
he gives his time to please & tender her, in order for them to love each other

energy not wasted and time spent beautifully together,
she reminds him of what happiness is like
and the same with him when he gives her all his love.
the flower is happy and... so is... he,
their fate is sealed for truth they were meant to be.



© Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11
***

Writing Destiny ~ Mika Datadin

How can I say I am sad?

All that's ever plagued my mind

has been my own poem,

my own writing

I have an unfortunate habit of using

words that do not wish to be used.



I am that one that has put

lead to paper, the one that

has made the mistakes, those

words I believe do not fit,

those awkward lines and harsh

forced rhymes.

All those writings I so regret

Yet I continue to write my

poems as such because I

cannot use the words I wish to.



One day in the future, when I

am in later stanzas of my

work, I will be free to write

as I please. Nothing will prevent

me from scribbling free verse,

independently of expectations.

One day in the future,

I will write my life

the way I wish.


©  Mika Datadin

***
Grade 11
***

Inside My Home ~ Mika Datadin

As I awoke dreary-eyed

I felt the burden of the world

fall onto my chest once again,

Pushing the air out of my

noisy lungs, silencing me from

uttering my helplessness



As I stood heavy-hearted

walking to the family room

the air burned holes in

my ears, as argument ensued.

But I would rather have this

destructive shelter, than journey beyond these walls.



As I step out, I am greeted

by smiling faces and batting eyelashes

small talk and big reactions

There I see a classmate

There I see a distant Aunt

But everywhere I see falsehood



How could you ask me to step into

A world where reality is not reality

Where every smile a scowl

Where every hug is an excuse

To stab someone in the back?

How could you ask me to make myself vulnerable?



Leave me

Inside my home

Where at least we speak our

Indecent truths face to face

Leave me

Inside my home

Where at least I feel

Real


©  Mika Datadin

***
Grade 11
***

Do you fare well in America? ~ Mika Datadin

For Jadida Kalim

We have entered the night to tell our tale

For it is then that we can come out

It is then that we are accepted

And real



During the day we are expected

To show ourselves only to be chastised

We are expected to leave our homes

And face the danger that lurks outside



But in the early hours of the morning

We come out to play

To meet friends from across the globe

To help those in need of an ear

To hear their woes



During the day we are occupied

With ink-filled papers and

Ink-filled minds

Pens grow out of our hands

Formulas spill out of our eyes



But when the sun begins to set

I can meet you over text, my friend

And forget for a while

That you're somewhere away from here, some thousands of miles


©  Mika Datadin

***
Grade 11
***

Widowed of A Living Companion ~ Mika Datadin

Love me the way you did when we were young

When she became old and waned

When you needed another muse as she lay in her bed

And you in mine

When you grew tired of her age

And accustomed to my beauty



I remember how your face would bath

In golden light on my pillow

I remember how you would buy me flowers

And clothes, and everything a young maid desires

But you could never but for me your real

love, your real self; for that is priceless to me



And then another came around

The same time my attraction weakened

You told me you needed to move on

To discover yourself

Here I am, left in my bed

And you in hers



I pray to you now to remember how my radiance had once sung

Love me again the way you did when we were young



©  Mika Datadin

***
Grade 11
***

Torch the Stars ~ Mika Datadin

Become who you are meant to become

Feel the power that is so rightly yours

Make the earth quake as you stride

Make the ocean waves calm

In your presence



Create the winds of tornadoes

Create the downfall of mountains

And the destruction of volcanoes



Rearrange the stars and planets

to your liking

Rearrange the cosmos as you

deem fit!



But remember not to abuse your strength,

Warrior,

You can use your powers for good as well;

To nurture the smallest flowers,

The youngest baby bird

Protect those that look up to you

Do not forsake them as you have been forsaken,

Great Warrior



©  Mika Datadin

***
Grade 11
***

My Mirror ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

My mirror, my reflection.
Same to me in every way, no mistake what so ever.
We look at watch other as if we just met, but we haven't.
You've been around my whole life - not only in the mirror of my room -
But the ones in the world.
My reflection, never in one place.
You are all over shadowing me from the: windows in class,
The reflection in my tea, my watch and polished surfaces.
The same person in every way, but different form every time.

My mirror, my reflection.
Do you see the world the same way I see it?
Or do you only see the surroundings I'm currently in?
Do you have a voice similar to mine?
Or do you mimic my lip movement ever so perfectly?
Movement your mouth like mine.
Do you hear the sounds of life?
Or do you only listen to the silence of your 2 - dimensional world?                                                       

Where sound is unknown.                                     
Do you feel emotion?
Like when I cried in front of you and I saw my tears on your face,
And my heavy emotions in your eyes.

My mirror, my reflection.
Are we friends?, because we know each other very well.
We are the same you and I, but I wonder....
What is it like to be you?
Your conscious and thoughts lie behind a transparent wall.
Yearning for freedom, to break the thickness that separates us.
I see, I feel and live
You see,  you feel and live - me.
Same to me in every way.
My mirror, my reflection.


©  Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11
***

The Feeling ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

What did you do to me?
The sensuous action that you had done on me
took me to a place unimaginable.
It was one of weirdness and awkwardness
BUT I cannot deny the fact that I enjoyed it.
What did you do to me?
Placing your warm hands where I never expected
and caressing my chest like cats fur,
you took away my attention and brought a heavenly feeling upon me.
It's was like magic or getting high, it's indescribable
What did you do to me?
The fact that I still think about it and means that I cannot get over it.
The she that did wonders on me undistinguished but desirable,
rare and but expected and yet joyful and different.
What did you do to me?



©  Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11 
***

Their Words and My Tears ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

It saddens me to hear those words come out of someone's mouth.
Even though they might have said it without knowing it's hurts just as much.
They say don't care about what other people think ,but how am I supposed to feel if that person has a massive impact on my life.
And as if I didn't hear properly I asked if she can repeat but it was as if she really meant it.
Saying it for the second time in the same manner , it hurt even more.

I thought about it then I cried and cried and cried and cried even more , but I was never heard and I never said anything I kept the pain to myself.
All of the pain in my life I've kept to myself ,I might have told a few best friends about my problems but I don't tell them all of them.
They say you should speak to someone when you want to do something like commit suicide, but I never told them about that either, I never told anyone

I've stopped the tears for now but the words will never cease.



©  Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11
***

Am I Better Off Without You ? ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

To be honest I really don't know;
you've played a very important part in my life,
that whenever I think of how it would be without you
my mind will go blank.
All the things we did and all the times we spent together
feel like a very distant memory fading away day by day.
You've always brought the best out of me
and I've always brought the crazy out of you.
It's like we're perfect for each other.
It's always been that way. Nothing more nothing less.
But I can't deny the fact that it's impossible to imped the way I feel about you.
IT'S LOVE.
The love that I have for you.
And like an Oak seed that has been planted
my love for you slowly grew greater day by day.
Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.
All I know is that you're important to me.
Whether I'm better of without is irrelevant.



©  Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11
***

For What It is Worth ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

I never really thought that it would come to this  we were so close that if I was apart from you I felt sick, but when I was near you felt alive.
I never really thought that I would catch feelings for you. When they said we would make a cute couple we laughed, but now I wish that it would come true.
I never really saw you like that at first because you were, " just a friend " but that just turned into a" best " and that best turned into love for you in a way that was unexpected.

It was as if someone pulled a switch in my head that controlled my affection for you. Now every time I see you my heart beats, my body heats up and it's like time slows down and everything around you becomes enchanted. Like you were living a fairly tale.
I guess that it's the way you talk and how I find it soothing, or the way you laugh which I find amusing or maybe your smile and your eyes how they blend together to make a picture of upmost beauty. Or maybe the way you look at me as if  your gazing into my soul. Looking right into my innermost thoughts and being.

BUT FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH I never really told you how feel, I was scared that I'd lose you and I guess I was right. I never meant what I said I was being an idiot mocking you of your beauty. I was being a fool. I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO HURT YOU. If I had the power I  change what said and compliment everything  I love about you

And for what it's worth to me please don't forget me even if you don't want anything to do with me. Losing you is like the end for me.



© Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11
***

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
***

Drunk ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

I only had a little sip just to make me tipsy.
I never thought it would go this far.
I only went there because my friend said it would be fun.
I never thought it would go this far.
There were shots after shots I was having a great time,
but I never thought you would go that far.
I had had enough my vision was blurred,
I drank so much my stomach hurt.
I had enough and I only wanted juice,
but I didn't drink that, you must have mixed the two
Now I was totally gone walking like I needed a cane.
I was about to leave then, you came,
sat and talked next to me trying to make me stay.
I listened to you hypnotizing my brain telling me things I don't even remember.
You took me to a room laid me down and said "....."
I blacked out, not for long, but for long enough that my jeans were gone.
I looked at you filled with lust ready to do me and until I'm dust.
You wanted to take away my innocence,
just because you saw I had no control over my mind and body.
But you didn't mind.
I had the strength to make you stop but I couldn't use it
I had the voice to shout for help but I burned it shouting at something else.
I had many reasons not to come in the beginning but I couldn't listen to my own intuition.
You saw my tears, and I saw your heart.
No words, no fighting.
Just a little dot that had your reflection on
showing you the monster that you never wanted to be.
You let go, I got up you brought be water but I'm not that dumb.
I left you there thinking about what you almost did.
I dressed myself... I think I did,
but I'll never forget what you almost did.




©  Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11
***

Reality vs Fiction~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

Do you ever wonder what it's like to live in a fictional world?
To go, beyond the gates of creativity and imagination and discover a place where anything is possible.
A place better that the harsh reality we live in, where you know that imagination is only found in fictional books or movies.Or where creativity only goes as far as drawing something because your bored in class.
Do you ever wonder why we need reality?
To keep us from changing the balance, messing with life, playing GOD and creating catastrophic mutations that set back the mind of man. Something that we are not used to.
Reality is real. It's there to differentiate the Real and the Imaginary. Reality is cruel and beautiful - it's unexpected.
REALITY ALWAYS EXCEEDS FICTION,
FICTION ALWAYS ESCAPES REALITY.
The Yin and Yang that circulate round and round in an endless motion. Creating balance and setting things back to normal. The two way mirror where you can see people from both ends.
REALITY VS FICTION - parallel in every way.
Fiction - we want to dream; dreams of money, happiness, love , the future, adoration and peace.
Reality - even though we live; nightmares of poverty, sadness, hate, past mistakes, loneliness and war.



© Nkazimulo Mvemve


***
Grade 11
***

Thoughts on Suicide ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

There was a time when I had had enough
There was a time when it was a bit rough
There was a place where I made a small salty puddle
There was a place where I hid my trouble
There was a day when I had my head down
There was a day when I didn't smile, when I didn't frown
There was a night where I sat in the darkness
There was a night where the stars were not seen
There was a person whom I'd miss when the time had come
There is a memory I have that can never be undone.

I saw the rope in my head
I saw the knife in my bed
I thought of all the ways to stop my heart
Spill my blood
Break my neck, spine,
And anything else that is tied to my life.

There was a moment when time slowed down
I imagined the gun in my hand
The gun near my head
the barrel on my skull and trigger pulled back.

I imagined death, my death
I saw myself fall with my eyes closed
Very slowly, with a hard thump
The pool of red grew
I looked at my lifeless body: no pulse, no breath, nothing...

I came back and saw my surroundings: the green, the blue, the yellow
And the colourful land in front of me was rich with life.
I thought of the funeral: who will attend and who will not?
Who will put effort into making salty water because of heavy emotion?
Who will be there when I go down?
Who will shovel sand on my new home?
Who will decorate my new patch with bright colourful flowers?
Who will miss me?
So suicidal...




© Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Grade 11
***

Our Tales - Luyanda Mbatha

We have entered the night to tell our tales
             Dressed all in black,
Only our eyes and teeth could be seen
             Armed with ideas in mind
Darkness was our only hope to find a solution.
So, burning of tyres brought light
            And vision to our destiny.

We had been silent for a very long time,
            They had forgotten all about us.
It was because our dilemma had been ignored.
We had to remind them, that we are
            Still hungry for free basic education.
The generation of our grandparents
            Fought for our rights.
Blood was spilled, for us to have
            A bright future but yet they still act
            Irresponsibly towards us.

The burning desire of reaching our destiny
            Has chased away fear
But we know that we would not cross
The night without the company of the police.

After hearing sirens, we ran for our lives.
           Gunshots followed with rubber bullets
Grenades had already been thrown at us.
           As the youth, the majority had entered the night
To tell their tale, but only the minority remained
           To tell our tale.




©  Luyanda Mbatha

***
Grade 11
***