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

an ice cold stare, old denim jeans
suede and cotton tops - they all
feel like los angeles, another
guitar naps where she sleeps,
santana seems to pluck the strings
in her dreams; speaking of dreams,
a sweet man and pup named clyde
are the cast members in her
opening scenes, acts in her play
she would burn the whole script
for just to see

-t.m

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we wear feel outdated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

what’s the hurry
one of my elders told
me about the power of
stillness   you scurry
hoping you will make it
in time   he said i will ne-
ver be able to capture
the essence of life if i am
constantly bewildered  
  worried that clear visions
will turn out muddy   chasing
another human for fulfilment
   questioning whether he or she
will love me  am i enough for my
loved one’s endearment   judging
how other’s worry  forgetting about
my own commitments   my elder told
me to be at peace with the past and
appreciate everything that is
worth loving   everything that is not
will  in due time  reciprocate these
thoughts that build on your spiritual
enrichment

-t.m

come closer as
we weep together
undoing echoes,
the waves of joy,
aching for love
we could not
weather.

-t.m

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

why does the moon
steal the sun's shine
why do you recipicate your gloom
and hate it when we are all fine
you've searched for joy so much you've
forgotten how to live and dream
now all you do is search for acceptance
in bright screens

we found love when
we stopped searching for it
we found happiness in each other
in all of our faults and mistakes
in this film called life
we found love when we stopped
trying to correct the first takes

- t.m

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

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

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

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

why do we say nothing
  when you speak
there's diffucilty in finding
  the messenger
we see moses in blank faces
 many share the bread
but feast on the cheddar in duality
life to leviticus
 is as opposing as males to females
aware of it all
but we follow none of it
our idols seem not read the pages
 but we love what they portray
we scream for them on the sideline
but we freeze when
    we are in the light
  why

- t.m

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

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

another seance, gulping
and gasping, in hopes to
welcome the chaos. wistful
with no margins, no colourful
crayons, nothing promised.
unexpressive, at times
dishonest. passive aggressive,
with a mind in *******. the
desire for an end, the wonder
of what is beyond this. a
prayer for love before then, to
one day look in the mirror with
fondness.

-t.m

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

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

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