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

***

Old Box of Flowers - Justin Van Vuuren

 4.

I’ve got this big old box of flowers

Aren’t they pretty?

I’m walking for hours feeling witty

So I stumble upon you not having a good day

And I say

“hey hey, just take one of my flowers”

And you say thanks and it brightens up your day

And you head on your way

Now I have one less flower

But that’s okay, cause I say I’ll be okay.

Just seven pretty flowers all wrapped up in a box

I wish they were limitless, but their not

Its another day, another flower

Are you okay? Another flower

Out of harms way, another day, another flower

3 2 1 flowers left and I’m running so low

Oh so low on the life I once had so

I debate to give you the flowers

To give you the power to fight away any

Sour thoughts you have everyday

And take it upon myself as I drift

Further into dirt like my flowers

I wish I never had any flowers

Cause now, like a vase

I’m empty

 

-          Spicy Icy

5.

Amongst the crowd, a tall lady stood strong

Unworried by the commotion around.

Violinists played the sweetest love song

My heart fluttered, no longer on firm ground

 

In her immense, blue-green eyes like the sea

Everything close by gradually slowed down.

She turned, facing directly towards me,

Gently walking amidst our old-time town

 

Butterflies fill my stomach and I blush

Not knowing what to do, I say “Hello”

She quickly stops because she feels the rush

Que the love piece, let it set love aglow

 

Like others, our story started with “Hi”

The difference comes how pairs say “Bye”

-          Spicy Icy

6.

Take my broken heart

and rip it from my chest

Steal away my soul

and finally put me to rest

 

I dreamt about you day and night

and I wanted you to be mine

You watched me in my hardest days

and sometimes watched me shine

 

Every time I saw you

my heart would skip a beat

Every time you said my name

I would spring out of my seat

 

I loved you with my heart and soul

I loved you year after year

But something always kept us apart

our confusion, our chances, our fear

 

But now there is no hope for us

We are doomed to be apart

Maybe I won’t feel the pain

if you completely break my heart

-          Spicy Icy

Justin van Vuuren

***

Grade 12

***

The Calm Before the Storm ~ Jivana Reddy

I deserve the rainbows in your eyes
Even with the storms in mine
You have become the calm tides
In my ocean soul
You drift away from my shores
Without a thunder whispered
I wish you would come back.



© Jivana Reddy

***
Matriculant 2017
***

Poetry ~ Nkazimulo Mvemve

Poetry

sometimes it feels like my emotions get the best of me.😢
maybe I feel💓too much and think🤔 too little
that my heart♥️becomes my mind.🤕
it's not my intention to cross the line but...
when I love... I Love,💘and yet for the most part,
it feels like my heart has been breaking💔more than loving.💖

I hate repeating🔂my mistakes with recurring love.
it feels as if my heart's a character in a video-game🎮,
it dies and dies and dies again.
each time different and each time more painful💀
than the last.
yet still it will resurrect👻to carry-on playing🎮
even though it may never win🥇

even still... you'd think somewhere in between
I would have changed,
I would have learned from falling for someone.
It's like outer🌠space in my inner ear👂🏿,
all I hear are silent lips moving👄,
they're saying "it's ohk".
The hardest pain is falling,
until you hit the attachments
that make it hard to get over someone.

Silhouette

"She's so perfect, so humble."😍
I say in my mind🧠as it is the only thing that I thought every time I saw her.🌚

As to why I did not speak🗣about how I felt?
I do not know🤷🏿‍♂, with reasoning so parallel to rejection I hesitated in my attempts.😳
But in fact my motives were not that of a Flirtatious type😏
but one filled with Admiraton.
She was beauteous in every way.🌹

I have no recollection of why failed to acknowledge her presence before.🤔🤷🏿‍♂
At first she was just another person that drifted past me🚶🏽‍♀,
the second time, there was little emotion when I saw her from a distance👀🚶🏽‍♀.
Yet I don't know if the third time was the charm but I saw a different glow,
an Aura to put it more correctly.

And I now I can't stop thinking about her, a Silhouette of biblical proportion.
Creepish looks of profound awe, was all I was able to do.👀

When she sat next to me our conversations were brief personality exchanges,
family, and school matter.
I immediately felt ashamed because as a Dude
I should have been able to flirt with her.

Physical appearances may not have been of her standard I guess
but confidence has always been an opposing factor when it came to that.
Although in her case she gleamed purity with her every smile,
shunning away the best-looking Playboys,
giving the littlest attention to comedic attempts from the Best-boy
and me the guy who she probably thought was just male figured shadow.

My only attempt at reaching out to her is a poem she'll probably never read.
I'm sceptical as to whether my words will ever meet her eyes.
She was not like every other girl,
she was uniquely of her her own status, in my view
standing far higher than the rest,
 she wasn't the most popular but she peaked at beauty,
with no shame towards her ethnicity she wore her crown well.

In a so called Poet's attempt my only Flirtatious attempt is this
I offer it to every single girl in the world
the Silhouettes of perfection and beauty.



© Nkazimulo Mvemve

***
Matriculant 2019
***

The Purest Truth ~ Naadir Vorajee

I went upon a lonely walk and
stumbled upon a heart
I wanted to know the warmth it held so
I took it all apart
Its tears fell upon my face as
I felt all of its pain
I often took and never returned and
still that heart remained
When I got to the last piece
it sang a song of praise
It's sound so pure and peacefully put
until my end of days...
I never forgot that heart I broke,
its soft touches were sharp
It pierced my skin and entered my soul like
the sound from Orpheus' harp.

True love stands tall, its width unbound
it tells its truth to one
It never forgets its chosen soul even
when it is none.


Naadir Vorajee

***
Matriculant 2013
***

I Still Love You ~ Mangaliso Xaba

I Just Woke Up Missing The Days We Had Back Then.
Love Was Real And You Were My Best Friend.
I Had No Money, But I Loved You Like I Can.
You Broke My Heart & Left It For Someone Else To Mend.
They Keep Telling Me To Leave The Past In The Past, And Focus On What I Have Today.
To Tell The Truth, Things Seem To Not Be Going My Way.
I Miss You And All The Moments That We Shared,
Me & You Were A Really Good Pair.
The Way You Left Me Knocked Me & Broke Me Into Lasting Sadness.
I Want You To Know That I Still Do Care.
This Might Look Like A Note From A Love Sick Puppy.
But I Had To Write It Because I Really Need You In My Life Honey.
You Gave Me Hope & Showed Me That Love From Deep Within Truly Does Exist.
That's Why I Cannot Give Up On You, I Really Cannot Submit.
You Really Are The One For Me, My Darling Baby Boo.
I Still Love You & That's The Only Truth.


© Mangaliso Mthandazi Xaba 
(MangzNation)

***
Matriculant 2018
***

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
***

A Poem for the Beginning of Spring ~ Malwazi Moholi

Love in Sadness

Written in September 2019


There are scars in place of serious wounds,
although, only after some time.
Some wounds take longer to heal,
while some cause more anguish, get distracted just to forget the anxiety.
Physical wounds would heal and leave a scar,
yet, emotional wounds reminisce and never really heal,
always holding back melancholic sounds
while painting a burning Cistus.

A "self-portrait," you said.
"Tomorrow, You will die," you said.
Even though you knew nothing of what you were saying,
you knew exactly how to inflict the pain you have always had.
Treating me as your own canvas,
painting pretty flowers of different colors on my flesh,
while trying to hide your lonely, painful secret.
I was a burning Cistus, waiting for someone to put out the fire and give me water.
The bruises you painted on my body eventually disappeared,
but my fear and anxiety for you lingered...
It lingered long after I burned in your eyes.

Time passed and watered my wounds,
nourished my heart and gave me the hope I needed to bloom again.
I grew to experience life with a different perspective,
from a burning Cistus to the surviving Rosemary.

From lost hope and despair
to an ounce of light and beauty within the valley of tears and shadows that I lived.

A Rosemary growing in place of a deep emotional wound.
A physical change to embrace my change in emotion.


© Malwazi Moholi

***
Matriculant 2018
***

You ~ Vuyani Ntshingila

Your golden hair shines,
 Brightly blinding my eyes,
 I guess you could say,
 I’m blinded by love.
Your tongue whispers,
Whispers sweet nothings in my ear,
To a normal person it would make no sense,
But I know exactly what you mean.
Your skin resembles dark chocolate,
Bitter to those who taste hastily,
And attracts those,
Who take time to taste
Your heart though not flawless,
Is filled with good intentions and compassion,
With space to love,
It reminds you of past failures.
You, Oh you cause sleepless nights,
To those who dare think of you,
Oh how I wish I had you.




© Vuyani Ntshingila

***
MATRICULANT 2018
***

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
***

Him and I ~ Aphelele Buthelezi

This is a story about him and I
How we both felt broken
and both our truths were unspoken.
How we loved hard before
and both our hearts were sore.
How our hearts needed to heal
and why we wanted to kill -
kill every ounce of pain that cut beneath our skin
and how this apprehension made us kith and kin
This is no customary story - not one with a knight and shining armor and a fairy godmother
But one that has two people entering a rehab from love together just to heal each other.
How he changed reality into his dream
and all he did was write
How she wanted to hold him
and put all the pieces back together so he can be alright
She chases and she falls
From one love to the next
She runs and she trips
From one ship to the 'best'
And when she finally felt at home
It was as though he was loveblind
As though her love to him was just a fiend
We live in a pretentious world -
a world where the truth looks like a lie
a "hello, how are you?" Feels like a goodbye.
Where an "I love you" sounds like a "That's my cue"
my cue to let love past right in front of me
my cue to back off
my cue to let him choose
Whether he wants us to fuse or let her loose.
She was his blanket to his shivers, his defroster to his frozen,
His food to his hunger, his blood to his heart and his tongue to his speech
But it was though he was loveblind
As though her love to him was just a fiend
This world full of hurt :
How him and I try to stay sane
And are too scared to love again.
This is the story about him and I.



© Aphelele Buthelezi

***
Grade 12
***

I Want to Fall in Love Again ~ Naadir Vorajee

I'd like to see her golden face
and feel her heart when we embrace:
A beat so strong, it'll pulse through me
A one-eyed look: Through souls I'll see

A want to feel her warmth surround:
A feeling that never touches the ground
A feeling that only us two share -
An angel walks in Eden, bare...

I wish to hear her tender voice sing
A silent hymn that makes me ring
like bells that call a man to pray
and lead the innocent not a stray

I must  smell her familiar scent,
that once a lonely man's heart straight-bent
that always guided me back to my home
and helped the soldiers that built up Rome

I need to taste her untouched skin
and release our souls locked deep within:
Make us one, to find our place
and bind us both like a knot of lace

This thing called love transcends our space
Our senses does it too embrace
But deeper than we can come to know
its bounds does it not care to show
Perhaps to us, it may never kneel,
why then, do we strive to its ideal?



©  Naadir Vorajee

***
Matric 2013
***

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
***

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
***

Rehab From Love: 4 Poems ~ Uwais Coetzee

Rehab from Love

I’m trying to get better,
Trying to better my mentality.
Trying to ease my hurt,
Not physically but mentally.
You didn’t hurt me
I handed myself the rope
Your perfection drew me in
But I thought I had hope.
I thought I had a chance
I thought it might work out.
I thought you’d love back
But you chose a different route.
You chose to change
And I still wonder why,
The hearts explained it all,
You chose another guy.
I know I’m imperfect
I know I’m not the best,
But you said it yourself
I wasn’t like the rest.
Didn’t you want something
Nobody else could get,
You didn’t have to worry,
Nobody else was a threat.
You could have been the Harley to my Joker,
Fit my madness like a glove,
But now I’m in the mental hospital
Getting rehab from your love.

Their Favourite Place

They hung their moth-eaten coats
On the same rack every day
As they’d quietly think
Of something to say,
Something to do,
Something to be
Not as serious as lovers
But just “you and me”.
They sat at the same table
Every week
Not touching their cell-phones
But not a word they’d speak,
Not a phrase they’d utter,
Not a breath too loud,
Their silent co-existence
Was enough in the crowd.
The steps they’d take,
The posture they’d pose,
The way he always brought
A cliched red rose.
The songs they played
And in silence they sang,
The bartender’s noises,
The same cling, same clang.
The same situation
In the place that was theirs,
The way no one pays attention,
The way no one cares.
The same broken thoughts,
The same tear-stained face,
They went on different days
To their old favourite place.

Hello

He was shy and she was reserved
And they never knew each other well
But both were in love and both were infatuated
But neither one could tell.
She was sneaky and he was sly
And they’d both stalk each other online.
They had pain and were heartbroken
But both always said they were fine.
So she went out with friends
And he locked himself away
And both were sad and broken
When daylight broke the next day.
Because she was a party animal
And him, an insomniac
And of course both desperately
Wanted to go back.
They were both still in love
But neither told the other, though,
And each was left broken each day
As they painfully left it at ‘hello’.

It Hurt the Same

He continued with his love
Even though it caused him pain
And he just soaked it in
Like the ground soaks up the rain.
But he continued to do it
And he simply didn’t care
About the pain it caused him
And it simply wasn’t fair
That she never loved him
And showed him no affection
And the unrequited love
Led him in the wrong direction.
He locked himself away
And couldn’t sleep a wink
Because the pain she left him with
Left him with a lot to think
And feel and know
All about
Because she became something
That he couldn’t live without.
He contemplated death
But contemplated life
And then wanted to
Impale himself with a knife
Because he was on his last life
In this painful game
Because the pain she left him with
And death, hurt just the same.

©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 12
***

You Are Golden ~ Marlize van der Merwe

My heart, my kindness things that are righteous
I write this poem to you, I hope that you like it.
Kissing your lips, holding your hand
You've made this broken guy into a once again wholesome man
You're sweet and kind
You're that sweetheart of mine
Like a brain tumor baby you stay on my mind.
I love hearing you laugh and seeing you smile
You've made me feel what I haven't felt in a while
Loved and appreciated
Thank you Baby I appreciate it!
This may be just the beginning I'm hoping it won't end
Thank you for keeping it real showing me others were pretend
If you need a hand baby both arms to you I will lend, extend
You're my love, my boo, my best friend
For you I am grateful
I'm hungry for your kisses
Your lips are so tasteful
What you bring to the table sure is a plate full
When it comes to your heart I sure am not playful
I will not toy with your emotions
Because Honey you fill up my world like the Oceans.


© Marlize van der Merwe

***
Grade 10
***

Bombastic Affection ~ Mangaliso Xaba

Looking at this Lady I got so confused,
Don't get me wrong, not because I despise her or being rude.
It's just that she looks so familiar
Her eyes, Her smile, Her lips,  Her melodic voice,
The way she walks, everything about her in Particular.
I have to state this, she is so Peculiar.
A soul in possession of pure uniqueness,
One could tell by the way she dress.
Observing her outer beauty is making my thoughts run wild,
She is just a one of a kind.
Evaluating her inner beauty is making my world spin around,
A lady like her, one will never find.
Her personality is so fine.
If I could literally give my heart to her to depict my affection,
That's a sacrificial offering I would never mind.



© Mangaliso Xaba - MangzNation


***
Grade 12
***

Love Lost ~ Mangoliso Xaba

MangzNation

Standing  in front of the mirror
Hyped up due to thoughts of love roaming in mind.
Not believing that she’s really mine.
I remember telling her that I really dig her,
She told me to stop digging as she’s not mine.
Anyways I don’t mean to brag but
Her body is a major skew line,
Curves in all the right places.
I love her and would never trade her for a dime.
She’s my number one, well the rest shall follow.
A beautiful soul and my shoulder to cry on.
But as I deeply stare at my reflection on the mirror,
I can feel the lyrics of love play softer and slower in my head.
I then realise my dimples start to fade.
All because Real Love was Lost, and Lust was Found.

MangzNation

© Mangaliso Xaba [MangzNation]

***
Grade 12
***

Forever in my Heart ~ Sibongile Maseko

We were just having fun, weren't we?
Those moments werw like a key,
A key to unlock a door full of amazing memories
We didn't even care about our low batteries

All we cared about was seizing the moment
Who knew our time together would be so potent?
We thought nothing in the world could keep us apart,
Our last memory together is engraved in my heart


© Sibongile Maseko

***
Grade 11
***