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tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2016
melanin molasses, the sweetest courtship attracts the ones who have never glittered
white bullets love to kiss black skin
black on black crucificton, a gospel orchestrated by the higher powers
****** puddles lay with the concrete during the darkest hours
night bullets play white doves during the matrimony of the bottom barrels life and its fast stint.
honeymoon candles lit by the masters matches, africans seek this artificial light in times where heavens white lights could greet them with a smile and roses that are wilted.

- t.m
9.2k · Jan 2017
please don't touch my crown
tumelo mogomotsi Jan 2017
please dont touch my crown
the black rubies were encrusted by steve biko
madam cj walker made it a sign of royalty
blood was shed for this ***** hair
i am a servant to this crown, and i will show my loyalty.

please dont touch my crown
i can feel the curlism in your fingers
your greedy hands appropriate it for relevance
you have hated volume and colour for centuries
but now you see beauty where you once saw pestilence.

please dont touch my crown
let your eyes feast on the sight of true glory
forget about vanity, and hear our chains
taste our dry blood, smell our lynched bodies
but never touch our hair without remembering our pain.

- t.m
9.1k · Jan 2017
deathwish
tumelo mogomotsi Jan 2017
next time you see me slit my throat
let my blood gush like it did on american streets
mute my screams like i did while the news got old
let your knife **** the silence and ignite the need for equality.

next time you see me pull the trigger on my foolish mouth
shut me up while i complain about my silver spoon
while children die of empty stomachs in the south
let the gun sound wake up people like me to reality.

next time you see me lynch my body
let it hang like decoration to show people that
the silent are like the violent
the mute are like police who shoot
the ones who are quiet while they feast on a meal
are like the crooked politicians who steal.

let my silence be the death of me
and my new found voice be the death of the thoughts of our enemy.



- t.m
tumelo mogomotsi Sep 2016
after centuries and centuries and centuries of:
pain and suffering,
chains and ankle cuffing,
segregation and impossible laws,
human degredation and deaths for the cause,
coloured lines and last picks,
work in the mines and barbie-like wigs,
culture termination and the education of self-hate,
fake freedom motivation and penitentiary execution dates,
community sabatoge and destruction of black owned schemes,
settle down for hip hop dialogue and basketball dreams
racial slurs and monkey metaphors,
television blurs and the world shutting doors,
the white man's drugs and melanin filled prisons,
talent that lacks funds and vietnam missions,
death of our black icons and imprisonment of mandela
death of trayvon and others on the death list which could go on forever...

do you have the right to tell "bottom barrels" not to dream to be on the top?
do you wonder why forgiveness is slowly yielding in the world, as if it sees a sign that says it's time to stop?

do they not say we must practice what we preach?
are they not preaching hate?
are they not preaching inequality?
are they not preaching the false levels of life?

is it too hard for the world to practice equality?
is it too hard for the world to live in harmony?
is it too hard for the world to see the similarities in our differences?
is it too hard for the world to live without fear of colours?

is it too much to ask for peace???


- t.m
3.7k · Dec 2018
EVERYBODY’S OBSESSED
tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2018
everything is everything, and
everything is nothing at all.
everybody’s obsessed until
everyone’s obsession finally
falls. blood splattered on the
earth’s surface, not everyone’s
mother will receive that painful
call. a cold body and an empty
stomach, not everyone’s mother
will be weeping whilst they lean
on their kitchen wall. to live as
a burden, and to die just as any
other human, not everybody’s
mother will miss their baby boy.

-t.m
2.5k · May 2018
MY DEARLY BELOVED,
tumelo mogomotsi May 2018
I SIT HERE DRENCHED IN THE
BLOOD OF ONE OF THE NATIVES.
WE CAPTURED THE LAND AND
HIS MIND WITH OUR ALTERED
EDUCATION, IT WORKED LIKE
AN ANAESTHETIC, OR BETTER,
A SEDATIVE. HE PONDERED ON
WHETHER OR NOT HE IS HUMAN
WHILE WE BEGAN PLOUGHING
HIS SOIL. HE AWOKE FROM HIS
DAYDREAM, TO OUR AMAZEMENT,
WE THOUGHT WE HAD HIM FOILED.
HE RALLIED HIS MEN, THEY DID NOT
HESITATE. I WILL GIVE IT TO THEM,
THEY ARE ARMOURED WITH THE BRAVERY
AND THE STRENGTH OF A THOUSAND APES.
BUT IT WAS TOO LATE, WE SLAUGHTERED
THEM FROM A DISTANCE, AND TOOK CONTROL
OF THEIR CHILDREN, WIVES AND MAIDS.
SPEAKING OF CHILDREN, HOW GOES OUR
SWEET DAUGHTER ROSE? I MISS HER
DEARLY AND I LOOK FORWARD TO
EMBRACING HER WITH FATHERLY
LOVE WHEN THIS WAR COMES TO A CLOSE.

UNTIL WE MEET,
__

- t.m
(1869)
2.2k · Oct 2016
black flamingo
tumelo mogomotsi Oct 2016
i wrote your
poem on a
pitch black page
with a white
colouring pencil - to
show how you
stand out in
this dark world.


-  t.m
2.1k · Dec 2016
icarus
tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2016
in my eyes
you were my winged icarus
who kissed the sun
and caressed the waters
of my affection.

but your eyes lingered as you searched for
a second solstice
and the softness of the ocean
in someone else when you thought you deserved a deeper connection.


- t.m
tumelo mogomotsi Jan 2019
you talk as if you sleep on flower beds
you told me a pointless conversation
is just a waste of breath
i'd rather hear your soft voice - instead
of being in this room with women who
hate each other's guts and look like death,
they talk about their friends which they hate and
down this moonshine until
they can't feel their heads

you look like you pluck petals and leaves
and that's the best part - your grace -
your heart is on your sleeve
and your soul is on your face
sitting next to you - why would i leave
as i know that there is no better place

-t.m
My first collection of poems, “teenage memorabilia - déja vu and other poems” has just been released on payhip. It is a free/pay how much you want release for everyone to indulge in. I hope it is an emotional read, as it is a piece of me. You can download it below, from which the download link will be emailed to you.
- t.m :)


https://payhip.com/b/U8t6
1.6k · Jan 2017
attire
tumelo mogomotsi Jan 2017
my heart is a rebel to this world
like liquid overflowing
pouring over and clothing the exterior
my love leads the way
and this world follows.


- t.m
wrote this when planning "a weathered heart" with mcdonald tsiie
1.4k · Dec 2016
déjà vu
tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2016
i feel the synergy
when our souls connect
a sacred energy
that binds our love and our intellect.

i cant imagine any earthly force
that could break our soul ties
our emotional course
was mapped and carved by our spiritual knives

i feel the synergy
when our souls share a few tears
an empathetic energy
that cures our growing pains and fears.

a thousand love letters later, ive come to realise
ive written the word synergy too many times
but not enough times to emphasise
the synergy between your soul and mine.


- t.m
1.3k · Mar 2017
too mushy
tumelo mogomotsi Mar 2017
i said i love you
not because you
said it first
my first love
was a bright girl
who dreamt of
meeting new
sunshines
before she slept
in a hearse

my first love
will live within my
thoughts
even when i am
on my death bed
as my children
search for a suit
that will fit well
on my tired corpse

my first love
captured my heart
at sixteen
puppy love
that, then, felt
like the sweetest
dream

my father told me
you will forget your
first love
like you forget a daydream
but how can this be a
thought in the wind
when it stays in my mind
like a chubby child who enters a
candy store
can't get rid of his grin

- t.m
1.1k · Nov 2017
haiku 001
tumelo mogomotsi Nov 2017
close your eyes to see
beauty is found from within
let it radiate.

- t.m
1.0k · Feb 2017
attire (verse two)
tumelo mogomotsi Feb 2017
my heart is a bohemian
its authenticity drips like a wet paintbrush
clothing the worlds pale canvas with colours
each colour is hated for its self reflection
its outlook on this planet
has brought the ones who roam it
to look within for their inner quintessence.


- t.m
1.0k · Oct 2016
candle
tumelo mogomotsi Oct 2016
there is
that one ambitious destination
that one castle in the air
that one taste of exctasy
that beams a flicker of light within us.

let that candle flame spread like wildfire
and spew out of you.
let your passion light this grey world with unclouded - and much needed - colour.

- t.m
879 · Dec 2016
u.n.i.t.y
tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2016
u.n.i.t.y.
john lennon and peace signs
mandela and african lives
jordan and twenty three
bob marley and marijuana trees
el chapo and ivory *******
courtney love and kurt colbain.

ive written the word synergy too many times
but not enough times to emphasise
the synergy between your soul and mine.

- t.m
inspired by the frank ocean song with the same name.
867 · Dec 2016
love religion
tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2016
sweet melodies become bitter and sour
desolated memories overcome the glitter of love's power
isolated thoughts reign
leaving everything else neglected and rejected
the mind has become too complex and is in unbearable pain
absorbing everything has left it diseased and infected
the change in common sense was something love couldn't comprehend
the strange difference was too dense which caused love to find a way to aprehend
the mind is a new found atheist opposing the love religion
due to the physical and mental pain brought from past decisions.

- t.m + mcdonald tsiie
Co-Written With McDonald Tsiie
849 · Nov 2016
synergy
tumelo mogomotsi Nov 2016
i feel the synergy
when our souls connect
a sacred energy
that binds our love and intellect

- t.m
791 · Mar 2017
sunshine + blue waters
tumelo mogomotsi Mar 2017
i love the water
an oil painting of the ocean in your eyes
my heart gets warmer
with every brush of blue glowing in the
sunshine.

- t.m
701 · Oct 2016
godspeed
tumelo mogomotsi Oct 2016
for all your dreams
life dreams that bring fear, butterflies and adrenaline in you like nightmares
life dreams that will never sleep until life itself is at rest
life dreams that you pray about
- to god -
before you go to bed
life dreams that you spend endless nights  
-polishing and amending until your eyes shut -
the life dreams that you stay awake and are alive for:

i wish you
godspeed

    - t.m
698 · Jan 2017
laying in nirvana
tumelo mogomotsi Jan 2017
the transcendence of life
has a sweet taste of ultra light beams
and the happiness that comes after strife.

to know that life and flesh
does not bring pain or tears
is the feeling of life after death.

the effects of karma
are no longer a factor on the soul
this is what it feels like to lay in nirvana.


- t.m
goodbye
694 · Dec 2016
third
tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2016
she sees the world in layers
her subconscious is in control
her exterior is only but a temple
for she knows that the walls of her temple
will return to the soil while her sou
photosynthesises into the universe.

- t.m
693 · Jan 2017
author
tumelo mogomotsi Jan 2017
a new being, i can feel my changes
dark skies, the light moon and my new phases
a jail bird, tasting the sky far from my cages
i needed you, to bend the bars that hinged my purge
your modest black, let me illuminate this earth
the quiet writer, you let your protagonist have the first word.

- t.m
690 · Apr 2017
tiger knee
tumelo mogomotsi Apr 2017
grainy screens, box televisions
animated dreams, analog missions
black fingers, fixing antennas
blasphemous winners, street fighter bandannas
tiger knee, tiger knee
finish him, 2003
brush cut years, empty front teeth
peanut butter sandwiches, green backyards
fingers in the soil, counting each white star
lights by the gate, daddys black car
mommys macaroni, dinner by the black box.

- t.m
660 · Jun 2018
PIMP(ing AFRICA)
tumelo mogomotsi Jun 2018
slicing the surface of your sun kissed
face, i used to nurture each grain and
crevice that decorated your profile,
now i have created the insecurities
that dig through your hard skull and
crumble your layered state of mind,
only for me to sell your pure love
to the fairer man. at the time your
prostituting was said to bring me
wealth and status, but i now sit here
in shame as you have been *****
beyond repair. although i deserve
not a gram of forgiveness, i hope
my patriarchy and greed does
not undermine my apology

-t.m
tumelo mogomotsi Jun 2018
a withered husband,
failed by life
tells me the story
that keeps him
up at night-

thrown in jail
for showing his face
in a white neighbourhood
after light

while he was being
waterboarded for
his tardiness, his
wife was being
sodemised by
men in uniforms,
trashing their shack
and leaving her with a
child with blue eyes

-he was left with
ptsd and an infant
that was birthed
out of a crime

he now awaits for an
apocalyptic flood
to take him out of his
grief knowing that the
love of his life went
through hell knowing
he could’ve protected
her from such demise

he now screams to
the sky asking his
cancer-freed rib and
his adopted son
who left him in this
prison - where is
his rope or knife.

-t.m
642 · May 2017
songbird III
tumelo mogomotsi May 2017
i felt your wings flap
above my head
my eyes are drawn to
your feathers that are
clothed by the golden
sunset

my eyes are set on
the endless blue of
the sky
happiness and growth
was all because you
let me hear your voice
in the wind
and because i let my
myself fall in love
with your blue eyes.

- t.m
638 · Sep 2016
voyage
tumelo mogomotsi Sep 2016
a video thought in your temple,
will be obstructed by the obstacles opposite of the walls.
wings spread towards the nest,
will be tested through the tempestuous turbelence.
but,
like the silky ribbon dressing you after the strenuous heat:
a honeyed reward, comes after the acrid voyage.

- t.m
638 · Dec 2016
boy
tumelo mogomotsi Dec 2016
boy
i had a trip
a vision of a boy
laying
in a soft bed of lush and wild green grass
with his eyes staring at the clear blue sky
waiting
for nothing because
everything
he ever wanted was right there.

- t.m
634 · Jun 2016
glory
tumelo mogomotsi Jun 2016
sweet to the heart's pallet
a heavy-meal to the mind's stomach  
silver stripes decorate the head.

there comes a time
when one must rest the cutlery
and put the craving to bed.

       - t.m
623 · May 2017
voyage (ii)
tumelo mogomotsi May 2017
i fell in love
with the summer
as i now know
what it feels like
for the sun to kiss the earth

the longest voyages
with shrubs and thorns
that try to derail
you from your path
are the ones that
lead you to something
that is of worth

- t.m
616 · Oct 2017
princess - one
tumelo mogomotsi Oct 2017
a timid girl
seventeen years of age
her smile reminds
me of my mothers face -
a springtime swirl
green leaves dancing in the rain
a light drizzle, softening all
of life’s struggles and pain

- t.m
615 · May 2017
blonde days
tumelo mogomotsi May 2017
we don't know what sadness
feels like anymore
our lives are as golden as your
hair
blonde days, the summer
never ends
i feel through your locks
you lock your fingers into my
knotty head
as black as the nights when
we conversate
we know more about each other
it's only right that we remain together

for heaven's sake


- t.m
#18
614 · May 2017
happy days
tumelo mogomotsi May 2017
time passes, things change
happiness comes, and so does pain
love and infatuation are mixed
but wrong turns were never in vein

what keeps me at peace
is the thought of seeing your smile again*

- t.m
605 · Sep 2017
october's sweetheart
tumelo mogomotsi Sep 2017
silence is not weakness,
nor are the sounds of acoustic
guitar strings, your smile is
painted with brushes of
sweetness, my heart awakens
to the bird who sings -
each word that you chirp glows in
the morning sun, then washes
away into those yellow lights,
many would anxiously search for those
sweet hymns when the day is done -
but i know each beautiful note sung will
channel the beauty of spring when
it is bright.

- t.m
i am releasing a short collection of love poems in december. i hope you will all enjoy it is much as i enjoy writing the poems in it.. :)
603 · May 2017
six letters
tumelo mogomotsi May 2017
i can't get this off my chest
it constricts my ability to breath
i loved you before i could ever confess
i spoke of you as if you are my belief

i speak to you
the way rain pours on roses
i adore you the way waves love the shore
a fresh breath of life,
you are a good omen
you are everything
i have been searching for

- t.m
595 · Sep 2017
black flamingo (ii)
tumelo mogomotsi Sep 2017
the emotions ive received
are heavy on my well being
   all who seem to
provide these seeds,
are made of plastic and have
a difficult time breathing
the irony - they use the word
love as if it's a preposition
yet they move as if they are
the living dead who see no
worth in growth, light,
or feelings

i see past their perfectly
aligned paths, their facades
which are inspired by what
others deem as right - and
i see the beauty in the thorn
bushes covering your sidewalks
i see the beauty in your painful
walks alone, the roses in your
sunburnt face, the strength in
your smile you gave to me as
i walked by - i see how perfect
love really is in the way showed
me who you really were
 before you invited
   me into your life.

the emotions you provide
are as vivid as life itself
in my thoughts, by my side
- your presence in my life
feels more like a dream
then reality - and i find that your 
love stops me in my tracks
just so i can pinch myself

- t.m
tumelo mogomotsi Jun 2018
a sluggish but proud zulu man
stopped me in my trek to no-
where as my fingers searched
for a grip in the dehydrated sou-
thern sand. he held a leather-bound
book with the words “the holy bible”
struggling to stay embedded. befitting
resemblance of the seminar he gave me;
scuffling through testimonies and biblical
verses that lead into various explanations
which were suspected. i asked him if he
believed anything he had just said. he
confessed, he’d been questioning
everything he had memorised and read.
he guided me into a tangent about
his distain for the greedy and the
need for the restoration of his ancestors
land. i asked why black people get
massacred when we articulate our
desire for economic empowerment and grass.
he listed to me everything which he was
taught was wrong with the indigenous
people, which, supposedly, justified the past.
i stopped him in his own trek through self-hate,
anguish and pity and i said this to him,
“if you change the way black people think,
you change the way white people get money...”

-t.m
592 · Nov 2017
kissing nubibus
tumelo mogomotsi Nov 2017
frightening ways to end up in a coffin,
unexpected visits from the grim
reaper, holds you and i in
limbo, with the idea
that we take life for
granted too often

too pre occupied
moaping about the
past and sobbing about
what is to come. too afraid
to act on our dreams, only to regret
what was not said until our days are done


- t.m
579 · May 2017
flowers at her feet
tumelo mogomotsi May 2017
i was made to love her
throwing flowers at her feet
brushing her black waves
fixing her golden crown
comforting her soul
writing stale love poems
daydreaming about her
losing sleep thinking about her

i was made to love her

- t.m
551 · Oct 2017
princess - two
tumelo mogomotsi Oct 2017
a livid whirl
between love is a family’s rage -
     a mother who’s full of spite
a father who’s mindset can’t be replaced
  so close, yet so far from love
i rip out my curls - her own thoughts
are contaminated with these ideas of hate
     the thought of what could be only
tears me apart and drives me insane

- t.m
550 · Nov 2017
(at night)
tumelo mogomotsi Nov 2017
“why do you give him those angel wings”
“well, he promised me joy and roses to smell”
“hell, did you receive any of those things”
“i can’t tell behind my cerebral prison cell”

“what’s letting go to pain”
“what’s with the spot test“
“why do you still keep him entertained”
“why don’t you just rip my heart out of my chest”

“maybe these questions are foolish”
“you don’t know how...”
“you seem to hold onto something ghoulish,
but maybe it’s not my place to frown”

“maybe it’s true; you can’t choose who you love
you can’t choose how the stars align
you can follow what your heart is in search of
i just hope there are roses along the line...”


- t.m
542 · Feb 2017
loop
tumelo mogomotsi Feb 2017
treadmill, treadmill, treadmill
my mind is in routine
exercising all of your expressions
unorthodox and quirky mannerisms
your decisions are exasperating
my mind is exhausted as i try to
comprehend
your previous steps.

memorise, memorise, memorise
your voice loops through my head
there are cracks in its harmony
but it plays like a lullaby
even in my dreams
your imperfect chords hang over
like a utopian sillouette.

- t.m
inspired by the frank ocean song “memrise”
517 · Sep 2019
what’s labola in danish??
tumelo mogomotsi Sep 2019
what is the meaning of spontaneous,
taking a trip to africa for a month,
snapping pictures of yawning lions is
pretty courageous, a selfie with a couple
hoop earrings that show us that you’re
serious lady that has flares of youthful
punk.

sipping a soft drink on a sunny pool day,
sleeping on dented beer cans and green
camp chairs, scribbling danish haikus
when the weather is grey, flicking polaroid
photos of you whilst you down a couple
beers

spontaneous is saying yes to every
opportunity that comes, taking a chance
with a stranger from another biome,
spontaneous is picking a cute shirt that
you definitely need to iron, and going on a
date with a funny guy while you kiss under the
sun

-t.m
507 · Aug 2017
so it goes
tumelo mogomotsi Aug 2017
like a river which flows;
losing meaning in the
ocean, no amount
of love that you choose
to show can
out shine the glimmer
of adoration that
my waves glow in

- t.m
inspired by elvis presley
499 · Aug 2017
buzzcut years
tumelo mogomotsi Aug 2017
wrapped up on green fields
and blue skies, cotton couldn't
keep us warm through the
wintertime, laughter kept us
active, barefoot on hard tracks,
our lives were consumed by
three-minute-rhymes,
our hearts all melted for
the same person, her name
was carolyn, on the brink of
adulthood, we laugh until we
are drowning in tears just
thinking about those times,
blonde days, puppy love,
wintertime sunshine,
the closest of friends,
the lack of similar
bloodstreams and
the difference in
our skin tones
will not change the
      brotherhood
   that will last
for the rest
of our
lives


- t.m
490 · Aug 2017
church halls - two
tumelo mogomotsi Aug 2017
the question is;
do these stained glasses
hold any worth today,
when the idols are the ones
who are leading the
hopeless astray, is there
any need for another
illustration
when the feeling
from within comes from
above,
do we really need another
human to try explain
the feeling, when at the end
of the day, the human race
can't explain the feeling of
love

- t.m
tumelo mogomotsi Sep 2019
it is befitting we closed our eyes
when our lips first held each other
following this romantic film’s script,
staying true to every single word
that we did not

kissing on the kitchen counter
swinging your feet to an
imaginary soundtrack, the feeling
of uncontrollable love accompanies
us through these drunken early hours

-t.m
463 · Jun 2017
mr williams
tumelo mogomotsi Jun 2017
sometimes happiness
doesn't smile
sometimes the face
of happiness is a
cry for help

sometimes laughter
is the soundtrack
to pain
sometimes a joker
is in fact going insane

sometimes your idols
are more then idols
sometimes idols are
just human
sometimes your idols
are more then idols
sometimes idols are
just human

- t.m
446 · Jun 2017
quarter to twelve
tumelo mogomotsi Jun 2017
at the back of a truck
like dogs wagging
their tongues
tasting the night
singing songs to
a sky that lacks the light
of the moon or the sun
tasting the night
a sweet taste of nostalgia
i know I will remember
these winding roads
and high rise walls
an atmosphere of uncertainty
adults created
we will remain naive and
young
until this music no longer
brings us joy and these
labelled shirts
we wear feel outdated

- t.m
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