Sisterhood

Your success is my success, sister
I was never trying to compete
I was never trying to outrun you
in this “race”
I aspired to be running along with you
Next to you
Feeling the same sun on my face.

Your happiness is my happiness, sister
I was never trying to outshine you
I was merely trying to stay alight.
I wanted to illuminate my own world
I was never trying to cast a shadow on yours
I was merely trying to be alright.

Your struggle is my struggle, sister
I have always been fighting beside you
Never against you.
Stop being to afraid of me;
I am not the enemy,
I am not the patriarchy.

Your goal is my goal, sister
Do not lose sight of what that goal is.
Do not be fooled into thinking
that pulling your sisters down
will make you stronger.
Stop fighting me, sister.
I know well what we have been taught by the patriarchy
But I am not your enemy.

 

I feel like a stranger
in a foreign country
a traveler
in my own home
in this town that I so love.
I feel alone,
estranged
in this place so dear to me
with friends so near to me
but my mind does not seem
to realize
that there are people
that are here for me.

Chaos voor die storm

daar is orde in my chaos
maar daar skuil trane agter my oë
in die holtes van my hart
vorm daar damme
wat kaapstad sal vloed
in die kreukels in my brein
stroom daar reviere
wat namibië sal verstom

daar is orde in my chaos
maar my chaos
neem oor
en dit versmoor die dinge waarin ek orde vind
maar dit versmoor nie Jou nie
Jy bly staan
Jy glimlag vir my onder die lig van die stere
onder die gloei van die maan
kyk Jy na my en laat my weet
dat alhoewel die aarde groot is
en die heelal ewig groei
sal Jy my nie vergeet:
my trane maak saak
want dit sal die grond onder ons voete voed
dit is waarvoor ons heel jaar gewag het
hierdie chaotiese vloed

huil dit uit,
my kind,
het my ma gereeld gese
en nou is dit sy wat dae lank
in die bed bly le
skryf dit uit my kind
het my afrikaans onderwyseres
immer gepreek
en nou is dit my hart
wat onder die druk van my vingers
op hierdie sleutels
wil-wil wil breek.

I feel like I have lost myself
somewhere along the stream
of days
of frantic surviving
swimming furiously against the waves
keeping my head above the water-
only just.

I feel like I have lost my glow
my joy
my constant smile
somewhere
in these waters
somewhere among the
heaps of papers and towers of worries.
What is the price of education?
Will I,
ten years from now,
still be paying student loans
and buying back my soul?

Water my soul

Water my soul,
my love,
and let these flowers grow.

There has been a drought
and these forests have long
not been green.

These flowers have long
been withered.

This heart has long
been waiting.

This soul
has been longing
for love, my love.

Please hear my plea,
hear my heart yearn
for love like yours.

Water my soul,
my love,
and let these rivers flow.

There has been a drought
and the ground has long
been dry.

These streams have long
been still.

This heart has long
been waiting.

anonymous

i do not have
a lot of money
but i want
time
to be a currency
so that i can
spend all of mine
on you
so that i can
spoil you with my minutes
lavish you with my hours

i would spend
all my hours
on you

Sometimes you meet someone
and you get to know
quite a lot about them
as the stars dance
and the sun
travels to your side of the world:

You get to know what they love
who they love
how they love
and why they love.

You get to know
the way their eyes smile
without their mouth moving
and how they enjoy
keeping their eyes fixed on yours
as they do so.

You get to know
how they don’t care much for words
and enjoy the silences

And you get to know
that such as most things in life
you only get to know them
for the shortest while
before all this is
treasured
only in memory.

And it is beautiful really
the way some people
were made to be there
only temporarily.

A month ago

the trees were green

and the ground was dry,

It was beautiful-

the dry dirt,

the green trees and

the blue sky.

Yet today is Autumn

and the rain came

with the ground’s call

And today the grass is green

but the leaves are brown

as they fall

and it seems

 

that not even nature

can ever have it all.

SELF-love

There is a difference
between
feeling good about yourself
after receiving a compliment
and
needing to receive compliments
to feel good about yourself.

Do not be fooled into thinking that
the one
is the other.

Self-love
cannot come
from other people.