Welcome Home ~ Zanini Msomi

Welcome to our society where looks come before character, where fame comes before hard work and where a good time comes before a good thing.
Welcome to our broken society where the bullet comes before the interview,
where hate comes before love and where money rules the world.
Welcome to our shattered society where love equals abuse and speaking out means attention seeking.
Welcome to our flawed society where we see colour instead of hearts and judge without understanding.
Welcome to our damaged society where rape is asked for by the victims and abuse is an honest mistake.
Welcome to our torn society where police brutality is a norm and helping others is frowned upon.
Welcome to our wrecked society where our obituaries are written before our graduation speeches and our homes are our living nightmares.
Welcome to our damaged society that has a problem for every solution, that has more grave sites than the world can handle and that swallows you whole and spits you out broken.
Welcome to our society where silence is no longer an option but betrayal, where your tears mean nothing and your screams are silenced.
Welcome to this our society, that we have all created. I hope you have a good stay.


© Zanini Msomi

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Grade 12
***

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
***

If I Should Die, Think Only This of Me ~ Pryaska Goorhoo

If I should die, think only this of me,
If I was still around
 I'd be telling you this over a nice cup of tea.
I was the surprise party... the helium inside a balloon,
I was the obsidian sky
holding up the bright moon.

I was like the screams
 from an amusement park,
Like an ultrasound
guiding a surgical needle through the dark.
I was the birthday cake
... the one from your favorite birthday,
I was that summer's day
that you had in the middle of May.

I was the wild oak,
changing and growing,
But you were the roots,
strong and grounded like a powerful river flowing.
I was the spinal cord, heart and brain.
But it meant nothing without
having the capillaries, arteries and veins.

Remember me for being
honest and real,
A fresh baguette and
Warm tomato soup as a meal.
I was Neptune and you
were its rings.
In my peregrination through life, I hope
 I turned your winters into spring...



© Pryaska Goorhoo

***
Matriculant 2017
***

Democratic Republic ~ Naadir Vorajee

They are coming...
Day by day our shadows fade.
They are coming...
Day by day they kill and raid.

Our days grow cold with the sun
Our days are grey for they are none

They are barking...
One by one our bricks will bend
One by one our names will end

They are biting...
Hard upon our wooden doors -
Mother and Child: Heads hit the floors
They care not for our sacred name
Their flag and Wall must we bring fame!

Our children eat from soils of worms
and waters drink from rivers, burns.

Our life we gave for life to live and sold our souls to free our sins

Now we've made our beds to lie...
gone they'll be-
No where to die.



© Naadir Vorajee


***
Matriculant 2013 
***