Insanity ~ Uwais Coetzee

Light became the darkness
And blue looked like red
And the lace where he slept
Became a cage and not a bed.
He was going insane as
Black became white,
As joy became fake,
As flee became fight.
As anger became common
And tears became a friend.
As life became a blur,
As reality began to bend,
As words became forced
And silence was his way.
As his demons became his companions
And night became his day.
As he stayed inside and tried to hide
And he watched life from window pane
He slipped in and out reality.
He was slowly going insane.


© Uwais Coetzee

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Matriculant 2018

***

Is it a Sin? ~ Uwais Coetzee

Is it a sin when someone
Leaves a place?
Not only leaves but
Leaves no trace.
Is it a sin to want what
Left you behind without waiting to turn?
Is it a sin to want to punish
Yourself and free them but take their burn?
Is it a sin to be all that you are
And possess so troubled a past?
Is it fair that what started so
Quick would burst in flames so fast?
I know that nothing lasts forever
And nothing that we have stays
But even though we separate we
Didn’t have to go separate ways.
Is it a sin to want
Things so desperately much
That you become conflicted
With pain as such?
Is it a sin to be wanted?
Is it a sin to feel lust?
Is it a sin to feel broken
By the breaking of trust?
Is it a sin to feel jealous because
You’re all I want to be?
Is it a sin to have you want me
Just for me?


© Uwais Coetzee

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Matriculant 2018

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Haiku & Other Poems ~ Uwais Coetzee

Haiku

She just might have been
The embodiment of all
I needed to know.

Home

They say that love
Is where the heart is.
But who ever said that home
Needs to be a place?

Comparison

If only she knew,
He compared the
Brightest stars to
Her dullest moments
And she won by far.



© Uwais Coetzee

***
Matriculant 2018

***

Life ~ Uwais Coetzee

I like the idea of us separating
And walking our separate ways
To someday meet again
Face to face.
Because nothing really ends
Not even life. It just continues
In the lives of those that it
Touched, in those that it felt,
In those that it held on the
Nights that holding ourselves together
Became our only objective.
Life is the life and life is
The light. Life is the darkest
Moments of the night. Life will
Always come even try as you might
To avoid the pain that you try to
Fight because even when the
Stars don’t shine, even when
You were never mine, even when
Wrong was close to right, the light
Always shines at the end of the night.


© Uwais Coetzee

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Matriculant 2018
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Intangible ~ Uwais Coetzee

He lives in the age of evil minds
And pretty faces.
Broken worlds but
Perfect places.
Deadly people with
Beautiful souls
And large hearts
That are filled with holes.
He lives in a world of
Blue eyes and blue lives
Of beautiful people with beautiful
Hearts that are hurt as soon as he
Meets them. Of people that might be
His were the circumstances different.
He came into peoples lives at just the right
Time, the time in which he could fall in
The love so hard that the lover didn’t know
He did. A love that was so deep he never
Stopped falling. With his feet having caved
And her feet solidly planted she was the
Root of his living abyss. The only solid thing
In his life was the only thing intangible to him.



© Uwais Coetzee

***
Matriculant 2018
***

Irrational ~ Uwais Coetzee

He was illogical, irrational
And no one knew why because
Not many people understand a troubled soul,
Not many people have ever felt cold,
Not externally but when the fire
Of your life burns out inside,
When the cold breath of a love
Has turned your tide
And love cannot change
When the circumstances do
Because if it did it
Was never love at all.
Because love is irrational
And doesn’t make sense
And in its presence, nothing ever does.
Because ‘E’ does not equal MC
Squares do not have equal side
By side is not next to
Be or not to because
Logic does not equal
Love.



© Uwais Coetzee

***
Matriculant 2018
***

Refuge ~ Uwais Coetzee

After saying I wouldn’t
I sit here ready to write.
Ready with gun in hand yet
Steady, unprepared to fight.
Is anyone ever ready for war?
Is anyone ready to battle?
Does anyone willingly go into the dark
With nothing but hope and pain as
Reminders of the light?
Is anyone ready to fight?
I write, not because I enjoy seeing
Pain on paper but put pen on paper
To see the pain you caused, instead
Of feel it. If seeing this pain is
More refuge than feeling it, I’d write
To you about you and me so you’d see
The damage hope could cause. I write
In hopes of finding the comfort that I never
Found in you. It’s funny how we seek
Acceptance and refuge from the sources of
The pain. It’s like trying to sooth a bullet
Wound with a pistol still hot from the shot.



© Uwais Coetzee

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Matriculant 2018
***

Promise

People promise things
That never seem to materialize.
There are promises made
From sunset to sunrise,
Things that are said,
Things that we do
Leave others and ourselves
Feeling inevitably blue.
Gold rings and golden hearts
Are almost never the same.
The ones we thought we taught
The rules are the ones in charge of the game.
Word in life are
Unfortunately, a must
But most time times they’re
The spears that break our trust.
We promise things to others
Every single day.
We promise them a world
But we take theirs away.



©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Matriculant 2018
***

Paradoxes ~ Uwais Coetzee

Paradox

He was awake at 3am
Thoughts that flooded his mind
During the day now plagued
His thoughts at night.
Flashes of blue, white
Shades of the darkness were
The only things he wanted.
Tranquillity in chaos.
Peace in war.
Happiness in depression.
His mind was on the fore.
The grounds on which he built
His logic was skewed.
The fields in which his
Feelings fled, was burning.
The reality in which his
Heart bled, was aching.
Entirely. Completely.
A holy hole was filling him
Wholly.
The only paradox of existence:
It’s weird how emptiness fills our space.

Paradoxical Happiness

I know one day I’ll find
Love again and this time she’ll love me
Back. She’ll love me regardless of all the things
that I don’t have, regardless of all I lack.
She’ll love the person that you left in
The background. She’ll love the one who
Will always be there for her. In times
Of pain and in times of hurt love will
Be on the other end of the equation for
Once. A wise person once told me that
It takes a year and a day for pain to
Go away. Take a year to find that happiness
Like a golden treasure and add another day
Just for good measure. It’s not like I
Hate you, it’s just that love gets to a point
Where it hurts just as much as hate. And
One day if you finally decide that I was
Good enough for you, when you see who is
There, I might not be there. Because I know I’ll
Find happiness. Paradoxical happiness and it doesn’t
Seem fair. I’ll find happiness but you just
May not be there.



© Uwais Coetzee

***
Matriculant 2018
***

Runaway ~ Uwais Coetzee

I am fine most of the time
And honestly that’s true
But when I get myself down
I become inevitably blue.
I become alone in a crowd,
Solitary confinement sent there
By me. Judged by a judge that
Has no degree, that has no experience
In anything other than being human.
Thoughts of hopes that I wished
To attain but like a runaway
Train it bashed on my tracks
And it just led to pain. People say
Pain is how we know we’re alive
But way more wrong than right
Has ever been said because pain
For me simply feels dead.
The runaway train that is the
Thought of you is a paradox.
I like to think of trains, but like
You, a runaway is hard to catch.


© Uwais Coetzee

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Matriculant 2018
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Freedom, Shine, Home ~ Uwais Coetzee

Freedom

Only when awake
Do you stare at me like people stare
At walls: heartless and nonchalant. In
A way I guess I deserve that look from
You because all I ever did was
Support you without ever asking to be
Anything more than close to you.
All I’ve ever wanted was you or to
Stop feeling for you completely. It’s
Your fault that your name became synonymous
With love for me. You’ll always be the one
But I want to be free.

Shine

Even if we don’t shine forever,
Shine so brightly,
That no matter how briefly,
Your life is seen.

Home

They say that love
Is where the heart is.
But who ever said that home
Needs to be a place?




© Uwais Coetzee

***
Matriculant 2018
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Stories ~ Uwais Coetzee

He told her stories of his childhood,
Stories from his past,
Of how his years and days
Went by so fast.
Of how he was always
By life bound
And how he always stayed
Close to the ground.
Of how his friends spoke
Behind his back
And of all the admirable
Qualities he’d lack.
He spoke of skies
And of the sea
Of how he envied the
Birds that were free,
Of how he loved winter
And savoured the cold
And how that was weird
Or so he was told.
He spoke of his demons
And things from deep within
And almost all the things
That lay beneath his skin.
He said he was in love
And it made his love a blur
But never did he ever say
That it was her.


© Uwais Coetzee

***
Matriculant 2018
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We Live in an Age ~ Uwais Coetzee

We live in an age of
Bright screens and finger clicks,
Of loud music but faltering voices.
We sit and stand facing screens
As if our faces were never
Meant to face each other.
Screens replaced face
And life was filled with races
As if we were meant to compete
With each other and not ourselves.
Technology replaces human interaction
And likes replaced love.
Nobody else can feel anything for you,
The rain on our skin,
The sky and sun, screaming in your face.
The feeling of love by feeling grace
And the satisfaction of finishing things by
Following you’re your own pace.
Screens may replace faces and music
Replaces voices, likes may try as it might
But love can always come to the light.


© Uwais Coetzee


***
Matriculant 2018
***

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
***

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
***

Poetry Writing Month

Today is the anniversary of Maya Angelou's birthday ~ 4 April ~ and I make this call to my students of poetry to pick up your pens and turn your thoughts into art. Poetry is the finest form of the written or spoken word, and everyone is capable of the achievement - be it one poem or thirty.

This is your forum. I am your editor. Send me your poems!

The Poetic Stranger

I am the worm in the heart that feeds on death
cocooned in the silk of evening tears;
I am the dormant corm deep in the bitter mire
of every deserted battlefield;
I am the black eagle, storm-divided from my mate
flying an uneven course with bent wings;
I am the rocky outcrop above the vale, the vantage
of lonely height, one misstep from the plunge;
I am the poetic stranger you may pass on the street
whose words you’ll never read.

But my mind is open wide to the page of your need;
my eyes have looked upon your death and seen release;
my heart has been dismantled, so that yours may mend;
my body I have consigned to the trenches,
to the worms’ grim feast,
so that a single creative truth
may emerge from my life’s work
like the carrion butterfly rising from the corpse of history
that knows yet how to fly and shine blue.




© K.L. Clark

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Editor
***

Oblivion ~ Marlize van der Merwe

Its Just Another Broken Heart To Happiness

I feel so empty, so lost, so heartless
It feels like I've lost everything
I feel like I have nothing else to lose
You were the one who made me happy inside
I was the one who kept you smiling
I was your first morning text
and your last goodnight kiss
It hurts me now more than ever
the pain trapped inside forever
The words that came from you
meant nothing at the end
The words 'I Love You' was just there for pretend
Every time I see you my heart skips a beat
Because of fear, because of happiness,
because of sadness, because of anger.
But most of all because I miss
seeing you smile at me for no reason
To see you blush whenever I smile back
I miss your hugs
I miss your kisses
I miss the feeling of our hands together
I miss our cuddles
I miss our runs together
I miss our laughs and our stupid jokes
I never knew meeting you would bring so much happiness
into my life until my heart broke into a million pieces.
Yet you have a smile, while I have to hide my pain likes its a game


©  Marlize van der Merwe

***
Grade 9
***

Faceless: Five poems by Uwais Coetzee

Faceless

She flowed on thoughts of others,
never thinking on her own.
She'd always ask for opinions.
Alone she would never have flown.
She would always seek approval
in the yeses of another.
If she were at home
she'd simply ask her mother.
"Is this dress fine?" "Is my makeup good?"
"Do I look nice today?"
She relied on others for hope and smiles.
She'd have it no other way.
She wore the faces of others.
Showing her true self to no one.
She followed the crowd , like part of the herd,
if they ran , she would run.
She told no one of her inner struggles
and left the nest to fly.
But in her 18 years , she had learned nothing,
she realized with a sigh.
By following the crowd you only learn
how to run away from the truth.
Now she was seeing her real self,
like the photos from a photo booth.
She had no more friends , she was alone,
everyone had walked their own way.
She was lost, confused , because she
never lead the pack a single day.
She wore the faces of others.
Never revealing her face to the sun.
Always in the shadows of the rest,
until she picked up the gun.
It was her funeral , she was alone
and no one but the pastor came.
She was buried under a blank tombstone,
because nobody knew her name.

Darkness

As the light disappears
And the darkness is what you embrace.
No sight , no views all that's left
Is feeling on the darkness' face.

I learned from Dumbledore that
Happiness is found when we turn on the light.
But sometimes the light is gone and nothing is in sight.

When something is lost
all that's left is a hole.
No remembrance, no nothing.
Just the darkness of your soul.

When you lose all feeling
and your heart becomes lame.
You will say:"I was in the darkness,
so the darkness I became."

Buried

He ran away from everything.
Feelings , emotions and life.
He took no responsibility.
He worried about no strife.
He ran and ran and left his home,
learning only how to escape.
He left all remembrance of his old life behind.
And only had his ignorance as his cape.
His ignorant bliss was a skill to master,
that most still needed to learn.
He escaped in a cold, hard shell
but for warmth he started to yearn.
He longed for love and the experience it brought
and strangely the worries too.
He had went along, experiencing no pleasures
and knew only that the sea was blue.
His empty life had left him alone
and needed to find "The One".
But he knew nobody.  He was alone.
Because he was always on the run.
One day he decided to stop and look
at the mess his lifestyle had made.
He looked around , his troubles were there,
and weren't soon going to fade.
The moral of his life was don't run away
for you simply will never thrive.
You wouldn't want to become like him ,
who's troubles Buried him alive.

Dark Sky

Thrown into this world
without an ounce of consideration.
It must learn how to fly or
face eternal damnation.
"Learn how to fly." Mother bird said
"Or you'll get eaten by the cat."
"Fly or die." is what she meant.
What kind of love is that?
Here I stand, watching this bird
get thrown into life today.
Kicked from its home, made to fend alone
in the cold harsh month of May.
Smiling to herself because she was free,
the mother didn't even care.
Flying alone , I saw it cry
because life simply wasn't fair.
Here I stand, watching it disappear.
Slowly I watch it die.
Flying alone, flying into nothingness.
Flying into the Dark Sky.

Eternity

We don't live forever.
People do die.
Time continues ,
It simply skates by.
We lose track of our time
or rather it leaves us behind.
We spend our time doing stupid things
But soon enough we'll find
that time has passed
and we are older
having regrets for not being bolder.
We lose our youth
too fast to contemplate,
'Time has passed at
an alarming rate'.
We lost the chance
to spend time together
because we wasted time
that is gone forever.
Now the tables have turned
like the hands on a clock
and we know only
the last tick tock.
If I could go back to
spend my time with you
I'd choose a simple amount
Eternity , times two.


©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 11
***

Ocean Eyes: Five Poems by Uwais Coetzee

Ocean Eyes

Until I saw your eyes
I never thought I'd drown,
I faltered in comparison with
My simple brown.
"Drowning: the worst way to go"
Is what most people said
They say it feels like the pressure builds
And explodes inside your head.
Those who haven't met you
Won't understand my tragic bliss
Of how drowning inside your eyes
Was a pleasure , not to miss.
Those who've experienced the water's rage
Would then stay away from the sea.
But I drown and drown , deeper and deeper
To have you get closer to me.
Every time I speak to you ,
It's a tragic fantasy.
I get swept away , tossed and turned
But come out dripping with glee.
I drown myself to experience you
In it's barest ,purist form.
I kill myself to have you live ,
It's not something out of the norm.
I lose myself in those eyes
That deep oceanic blue.
And if I drown , one day , for real
Make sure they know it was you.
I'll be swept away ,in an ocean of bliss
And you'll hear the elated cries.
For I'll have drowned , happily,
in the depths of those Ocean Eyes.

One with the Ground

I found that life is busy
There's no time to rest.
The only time you ever get peace
Is when you become the best.
Sitting on top of the mountain
Gives you a better view.
But the pressure to stay on top is immense
when everyone wants to replace you.
To have peace eternally
You must make peace internally.
To get peace internally ,you have
to make peace externally.
Make peace with those around you
You'd think that it might save you.
But everything is too much anyway
You'll drown and see only blue.
Life is tough and life is hard
And there's no easy way out.
The only easy way for you is hard on others
But it's still difficult without a doubt.
I took the easy way out and this is
What I found:
The only simple way to peace
Is to make yourself One With the Ground.

Freedom Of The Soul

Don't be trapped in daily life.
Live beyond your eyes see.
Create the rules of your life.
Set your soul free
Only you can control
that life of your own.
Make your environment of happiness
before you're all grown.
Be true to your fellow man ,
Be real, not fake.
There's only so much negativity
that a soul can take.
Don't be buried in negativity
and have to dig yourself out like a mole.
Live life on top of your world
and achieve freedom of the soul.

Forgotten Feelings

I told you one day
how I felt about you.
I spilled my heart out.
Like an emotional spew.
You stood there quiet.
Like a statue.
I waited for your response and
the tension grew.
You looked at me with those eyes.
That deep ocean blue
and said with sorrow
"I don't love you."
I took it like a man.
Trying to act tough.
I said "I'll see you tomorrow."
Because what you'd said was enough.
Those words fit into me.
Fit like a glove.
That was all I needed,
that little shove.
I let my feelings fly away.
Fly like a dove.
You made me forget.
Forget how to love.

Hopes from before

I wanted it to be real.
And by the way things looked it would be.
I wanted us to be together
and from our pain and suffering we'd be free.
I wanted you to want me
on those cold and gloomy days.
And search for me like people search
for the exit of a maze.
I wanted you a line
and things were looking good.
Until I saw the day on which
alone with him you stood.
You said that it was nothing.
That "He was just a friend."
But you struggled to find the words
that my broken hopes would mend.
I wanted us to be real ,
But it was fake to the core.
I guess I lost the connection
from the hopes I had before.


©  Uwais Coetzee

***
Grade 11
***

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
***