A Few Words for a Special Friend ~ Sajna Ramdin

A golden heart stopped beating
Two twinkling eyes at rest
God broke my heart just to prove
He only takes the best

I miss your bark
I miss the sound of your feet shuffling across the tiles
I miss your mischievous ways
And how you never failed to entertain me

It's so hard doing anything without you
Wagging your tail behind me
And following me wherever I go

To some you are forgotten
To others a memory of the past
But for me
Who loved and lost you
The memory will always last


© Sajna Ramdin


***
Grade 8
***

Cup of tea ~ Cheron L'Estrange

ace bowed
a cup of tea
that's surely more salty than sweet
logic and your calm words
ripping, raging against my insides
though somehow you are peace
in a world full of turmoil that
I myself have created
And I cannot think these things
I must not feel them
Must not cry nor rage
Must not hope
Because if you are a diamond
then I am just a paper box
And for all I am not,
I could never deserve you


©  Cheron L'Estrange


***
Grade 10
***

Without You ~ Nishka Ramkhelawan

I feel so bare without  you

like dark clouds which ominously cover the sky

but will not release rain to soothe the parched earth of your soul.


as Empty as lake without water



without you I am like a clock

that never moves,



useless...



your sun has vanished

while it is yet another day.

Perhaps you were ready to leave

But I was not ready to say goodbye



I am falling apart

And people will stand around watching it happen,

 but can't do much to make the pain go away.



Senseless…



How do I go on without you?


©  Nishka Ramkhelawan


***
Grade 11
***

I am Sorry ~ Thandeka Mthembu

Sorry I tried to bring you glee
too bad its not with me
you wanted to be..
Sorry that you never on my mind
Lately
since you lost what I thought I'd find

I am sorry for all the flaws
Sorry for how perfect I
find my imperfections
I am sorry I just spoke too soon
of how I loved..
Loved and adored you
I am sorry you used to provide
me with joy..
Joy that could take anyone to the moon
Sorry I couldn't join the cue
but instead you made me apart of your crew.

I am sorry for all the love
so sweet I tried to give
but all I hold onto now is my bitter treat.
I am sorry for you I could not wait
with each passing day love turned into hate
Sorry for that fateful day
I coughed up the courage to ask
but your silence my smile did unmask..
sorry I had to walk away
because after that day I could not stay
For this I am truly sorry..


©  Thandeka Mthembu


***
Grade 10
***

Emotion ~ Nokwanda Thabede

The scariest thing
About letting yourself go
Is letting people know you’re emotional
And when you cry every night
And wish you would die
Where are they
Telling you
To hold on,
Stay strong?
No where.
They are no where to be found.
No they don’t make a sound.
So when they come around
In your glory days,
They don’t even
Recognize your face.
It’s a shame to say
They just want your fame.
But they don’t even know you’re emotional.
Cause you keep it in so they don’t win.
But when
That one person
Comes along
And sings you
A song,
Let them in
Don’t let them
Move on.

©  Nokwanda Thabede


***
Grade 9
***

Nsiki Gwala ~ Two Poems

The Plunge

The waterfall draws near.

Standing on the edge of destruction:
My sanity beaten and weary.

The waves hath
brought me here.
The torrents hath
dragged me
to the
ends of
the
earth.

A cold breeze pricks my fragile skin -

         And I plunge.




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



Disappointment

A heavy heart
filling with rivers
of self-pity.

A weary mind
unhinged by memories
of pain.

Dark, heavy eyes
overflowing with tears
of sorrow.

Days of hope
murdered by a second
of sad reality.



© Nsiki Gwala


***
Grade 10
***

The Most Hilariously Painful Thing ~ Pryaska Goorhoo

photo credit: Himalayas Mountain Flight via photopin (license)

Life is the most hilariously painful thing.
It fills every single one of our cells with pain and pleasure.
It sort of also envelopes our thoughts into a hard, solid rock.
Like the Himalayas last winter and the very day
Where everything that had been blue, now turned to white.
Right at this moment, autumn is a dead old tree
Waiting for the finger-like, six-sided projections to cover each leaf.
Autumn is where the leaves dance from the branches to a melancholy tune-
Just like the notes in my head, the painful yet pleasurable memories.
That one scent, mood and atmosphere - all it brings with it is sadness
Sometimes even just a blatant mockery.
Despair, distraughtness - the emptiness of life.
The emptiness of life, The North Pole, vast landscapes of nothing more than plain snow
Unproductive, distant and cold.
And I hope that with every single life lived on this planet,
It is so much more than that - unproductive, distant and cold.


© Pryaska Goorhoo


***
Grade 10
***

Cheron L'Estrange ~ You See

You see,

your voice

rolls around in my head

day after day

between all the flirting

and smiling

between the dressing-up

and breaking down

I still can’t

accept that you’re not around

Putting on make-up

and punching the wall

Did you mean what you said?

any of it at all?

A million kisses couldn’t keep you

A million squats can’t bring you back

They say I’m pretty

…but pretty doesn’t fix it

© Cheron L’Estrange


***
GRADE 9
***

Cheron L'Estrange ~ De-titled

And sometimes
when the silence was too loud
you could hear someone
not crying
and you knew then
that is the worst type of pain


© Cheron L’Estrange


***
GRADE 9
***

Cheron L'Estrange ~ Burnt Out

I don’t feel so strong

I’m all out of fire

Where did we go wrong?

Lately I just drift along

I have lost all my desire

I don’t feel so strong

Can’t believe what you’re saying

-Not that you’re a liar

Where did we go wrong?

Can’t you see I’m trying?

Now things are getting dire

I don’t feel so strong

Late dark hours spent praying

Couldn’t love have been easier?

Where did we go wrong?

Was this all for nothing?

All I know is you still matter

I don’t feel so strong

Where did we go wrong?

© Cheron L’Estrange


***
GRADE 9
***

Suwaibah Kader ~ Without You

I’m here, you’re there; where  is life?

You’re the only one wherever I look.

Sleep doesn’t come to me, and the memories don’t go away…

Without you, living is no longer possible.

I’m here, you’re there ; where is life?

It’s as if time has stopped here. Everywhere, there’s a strange sadness.

My restlessness agonizes me; my body is lonely and my soul thirsts.

Why does your face not leave my sight for a single moment?

Day and night somehow pass, but this lonely life does not.

Though I want to, I can’t say anything to you…

How can I voice my pain?

I’m here, you’re there; where is life?

Whenever there was a footstep somewhere, I felt you had come.

Like a gust of perfume, my breath also became fragrant.

There was a time we were always together…

Now there’s so many differences between us.

I’m here , you’re there; where is life?

Memories of the past come to me when I’m alone;

The silence speaks, and I hide myself away from everyone to weep.

A year has passed since I smiled…

This story is filled with tears.

I’m here, you’re there; where is life?

You’re the only one wherever I look.

Sleep doesn’t come to me, and the memories don’t go away…

Without you, living is no longer possible.

© Suwaibah Kader


***
GRADE 8
***

Valentina Blinoff ~ Right Behind

Always staring at you I am,
Maybe you didn’t realized
What a heart broken girl
You had left behind.
If somebody asks me,
I’ll say that I don’t know you
Or maybe that I don’t care.
But believe me when I say “I love you”
Believe me when I say “I need you”
You and I know it.
We know that I can’t live without you,
That without you my life is nothing,
That without you I feel like dying.
So don’t just walk away.
So look behind,
But look carefully.
Don’t try to hide the truth.
Turn around.
Look at those eyes,
That are always looking for you,
And tell them what you feel.
You know I’ll understand.
You know that no matter what
I love you.


© Valentina Blinoff


***
GRADE 8
***

Valentina Blinoff ~ Why Is It Me?

A world full of people,
And I only have a few friends.
A world full of people, who hate me…
And I don’t know the reason.

Is it wrong to love people?
Is it wrong to want them…
To love you back?
Is it wrong to try to make friends?

Why am I lonely?
Lonely in this big world.
Why does everyone hate me?
Why I have no one?

I try to do my best.
I try to be nice.
I try to not be mean.
I try to not talk.

I try to not be rude.
I try to listen too.
I try to do the impossible.
And nothing has worked out.

I can’t understand what it is.
Did I make a mistake?
Did I offend someone?
But none will tell.

I want to make it better…
I only make it worst.
I have only one question:
Why is it me?

It is weird how
Good people end up bad,
Bad people end up good.
Did this ever happen to you?

I just don’t want it.
I don’t want to live like this
But I cannot show them,
Show them how I feel.

I have to be strong,
Even if I can’t.
I have to carry on,
Even if it’s hard.

But it looks impossible.
It looks very hard.
Why is it me?
I have to answer it.


© Valentina Blinoff


***
GRADE 8
***