Rise up, Africa, rise
Come on put your hands together
I’ve heard the wailing voice of a woman
The deafening cry of her child can’t escape my ear

Have you given any thought to the plight
Of that miserable, helpless African woman?
Her last meal she can’t even remember
Her dying child crushes her heart at every glance

Gunshot has left her trembling
Who will protect the African woman?
When her protector has turned her oppressor
Destitute and traumatized she has been left

From the tight grip of brutal oppression
Who will rescue the African woman?
Her loudest crying voice
Has found no ears to fall on

Deep in the jungle somewhere
Where no arm is long enough to reach her
She lonely stares death in the face
Ready to snatch her helpless child away.

I see you, You see me
Yet we don’t see each other
We hide behind veils of pretense
Yet conjure ungrounded opinions
No acknowledgment is required
But clarity is needed
I’m wrong, You’re wrong
Both at fault
Abominable pride restrains
The words tipping on my tongue
So we carry on
I see you,You see me
Yet we choose not to see each other

I was pleased to hear your name
I was amazed to see a face like you
Your smile, time stop for that moment to wonder
Scared as I was, my heart would had broken if I did not say hello
For once I took notice of my voice and your voice was unbelievable
I spoke my heart out
I told of secrets kept hidden from the rest
I held and assured you to never let go
My life was for you to protect
I held your hand and walk with you through that storm
Your tears I hold precious not to fall down
In your eyes I saw not an angel, but the image of the lady in my dreams
You told me I was everything that you ever wanted and likewise I said
I called you not darling, sweet heart neither my chocolate, but by your name
You said it was sweet, and your name was sweet
Then suddenly I was walking by past your place
I saw you holding his hand and I nearly died of honesty
Was it really you my sweet cheating on me?
I would not come to believe it
You saw me and your head went down and mind started to shake from left to right in disbelieve
It was the truth we lost it, we really lost it
You told me the day after my heart break that you never meant to hurt me
It was the truth you were always going to break my heart
Tears like a river come rolling down my cheeks
I wanted to hate you, but my love for you was too pure to consider it
Storm, storms and grey weather become my daily existence
I was dead inside for my smile is just a frown
Lady of mine you left me fragile
Then one day I smiled with myself for once to see what will happen
The thought of you just disappeared
I was free from you now
Then one day I heard you were looking for me
I found you sitting on top of a branch of a fallen tree
You ran and hugged me
Your face was full of tears
I wanted to push you away, but all I could do was embrace you
I embraced you because I knew how it hurt and nobody deserves it
You said he broke your heart and the pain was unbearable
I told you to stop because you made no sense
Then you started weeping, I had nothing on me to wipe your tears away
So I offered my brand new t-shirt
It mattered not to me that it was brand new, what mattered was you
You asked me how could he? I asked what could he what?
You said how could he take you away from me?
Was it a question you just asked me?
It was getting late; can I take you home I asked?
You said you had no place to call home and I was the only place you could call home
You begged for forgiveness, for what I asked?
Please forgive me for the hurt and pain I caused you
I said don’t worry with a face mixed with emotions
I could not show my disappointment neither my hurt
Damn you shouted!!!!
What went wrong you asked?
I said nothing went wrong was best answered
Believe in me and I believed in you
You said one day I will remember you
I said I don’t want to see your face again
Remember the summer you said it will never end
Remember the winter you said you felt warm in my arms
Now we speak of you, him and me, instead of the of us
It will make no difference if we cry foul
You hide behind lies with such truth
Your truth is far from your heart
Your thoughts are creeping far away from your mind
Remember this is what we call love
Forget what we call it, it was never meant to be
Loveless

FLANEGAN THABO NTSHOTSHO

Stop lingering in my thoughts
Cease from abiding in my dreams
Let me go, let me be
These stirrings in my heart
Folly on my part
Silent conflict raging through my mind
Restless whispers clawing out my mouth
Let me go, let me be
I have nothing to offer thee

Turmoil, as to how I came to be
Because I ceased to be
Existing within a perfect flawed state of being
Looking at the reflection of what I ought to be
Not who I am meant to be
Bordered on the good-bad, of what it means to be me
Lingering on the truth presented before me
I grapple to distinguish opinion to fact
A pity,
For I feel but a sham of what I am supposed to be

Our worlds are intertwined,
The more we try to understand it,
The more complex we make it.
The past, the present and the future,
Are one interconnected force.

Our mind is our universe,
Our tool to create, to change,
Our perspectives, the realm in which we live,
Where children are free to think
And to draw from their imagination.

We ultimately learn to adapt to change,
And rely on something symbolic to clinch on.
As we grow older,
Logic and reasoning becomes,
Evident in everything we do and think of.

We may not have have control of our lives,
Forcefully, the elite take it upon themselves,
To mark society as their possession,
Their identity, to uphold their reputations,
But what if in the near future…

I can see people programmed to carry out,
Tasks encrypted in their skin,
Emotionless beings resisting an apocalyptic war,
Between Mother Nature and Science.
The past and the future, a spirit in disguise

Among the archived artifacts,
That poses as a threat to humanity,
For those who rebel for freedom,
Past down memories of their ancestors,
Still influences their scarce culture.

What if we had the power to be individuals?
Would conflict be certain against those?
Who technology dictates to and governs,
Their world of fantasy of dreams?
The present the catalyst and transition,

Between past and the future,
What we do now becomes the past,
And affects the future that lies ahead.
Perhaps if we should be ignorant for power,
Greed will lead to suffering at the end.

Of seeing what we have built become ruins
In nature, what we have created,
Results in our almost extinction,
In our afterlife, after the future.
Our failures, our faults,

Sets us back to look at what we had before,
Reliving the past as though it were our future.
We have become slaves to our minds.
The ego determines your perception.
Suffering is a reality that cannot be avoided.

Confusion of religion or culture becomes,
A disillusion to you, your love to your fellow being,
Seems new to you, whereas before the trend,
In society when relationships were not a crime,
But a true sign between humanity and itself.

What if today is your future?
Tomorrow your past, the next your present.
In the next life of your recantation,
Would you still be searching for you?
Alone in the ruins of your creation?

Grey clouds surround me
the darkness envelopes me
as the light fades
the gloom fills my soul
and I cry out for help
but no-one hears me
no-one sees me
I am drowning in unhappiness
joy evades my soul
as I hide behind a smile
grey clouds still surround me
I can’t get out , can’t see the light
so i descend into the darkness
of my mind
grey clouds have become my prison

view zoomed
on the jacaranda blooms

breathing the air of home
without a care
as I sit out, on the veranda alone

thinking of her
something about the day
and the season
for some reason
I’m reminded of the scent of her perfume

the sensual care of her womanhood
and it feels real enough that I have a chill in my bone

so quickly I descend from the horny layer
that is, the stratum of my daydream

with but one question on my mind still

do I regret that she’s gone or am I happier on my own?

© Heath Muchena

I have a little friend I’ve come to hate
It took quite a while before we clicked
Cough, cough – I choked and coughed hard
The moment I first stuck him between my lips
I, however, was determined to get to terms with him

His sensation led me to a problem free world
He helped me ‘forget’ all my problems
Providing relief in times of stress
A dear friend he proved to be…. for sometime
He made me feel like I own the world

Pull in, relax, blow out into the clean sky
I felt like a King biting my ‘stick of death’
Those who don’t smoke are lost for sure
They have no idea what they’re missing
Those were the good times!

I’ve made up my mind and I now want out
But I have utterly lost control
He has taken over my life
I want to quit, I keep saying as I light it
I now wish I never met this friend of mine

I’ve become his hopeless and voiceless slave
But I badly want my clean life back
He hasn’t done my pocket any good either
Together we have squandered a good fortune
I don’t know how to drop him off my lips

Who will set me free from this smokey bondage?
My family and friends have given up on me
Where shall I run to so he won’t find me?
They dragged me to rehab in efforts to keep us apart
He kept calling my name loud from outside

I’m buying no more when I finish this
I’ve told myself this a thousand times
But I’ve gone on to buy again…….and again
I wish it was that easy to quit
Pull in, relax, blow out into the clean sky!