on a sea strand,
have you watched empty shells
mercilessly tossed from sea to shore
and from shore to sea?
often I shrink and reduce to such a shell,
with jagged and broken edges
colorless and empty
among many a debris cast on the shore,
i lie half buried under the sand
waiting for some mighty wave
to wash me away
all the way to the sea
how tedious is my voyage
shuttling from him to her
and from her to him
unable to openly confess
who weighs more
on the balance of preference
through how many alleys and by ways
I have wandered, questioning my identity!
am I a puffer fish, being toxic
the fisher men have discarded?
a jarring note in a discordant symphony?
I wonder....! I often ask myself!
destined to grow
in mercurial climes,
planted in arid shallow soil
with the tap root trimmed,
branches pruned,
growth denied,
I, a stunted bonsai!
still I dream to be a towering tree,
that in profusion gives fruits and shade!
a ****** aspiring to be a Goliath
a hollow reed,
longing at once to be the singer and the song!
Aug 4, 2018
Aug 4, 2018 at 9:59 AM UTC
It's a New World
Cars fly in the atmosphere
Like kites being flown by carefree kids
Homes crumble down to shreds
Like mud castles being hit by the rain
Life gets washed away into the seas
Like soft sand grains from the sea shore
Earnest elite men and women in white coats
Will name as tornado, tsunami, earthquakes
Scary names they are
Imaging dragons and Dracula
But it is a natural disaster
It is the universe's fault
That no man can be blamed for
Some people live with their loses
Find solace in the life they at least have left
Though, sadly, most never do
They wish they were never spared
For they are nothing with the nothingness spared
It's a new world
Now welcome the insensible fault of nature
Pssshhh! A silver vessel flies to the North
Zssshhh! A furious retaliative one trajects
Bzshhhh! They both hit on either sides
And the rest becomes history
Secure in their protected fortresses
Safe in company of their families
Content with their actions
Two men from either sides
Too full of their selfish and narcissistic egos
And yet voted by the perishing masses into power
They watch their doings
From their fancy televisions
Like it were an ugly action movie scene
Or a space Sci-fi video game
While everything burns down
And life turns to death
Toils taken to graves
Children screaming
Parents crying
Dreams shattering
Blood spilling
Sirens wailing
Doctors yelling
Pulses feebling
Breaths fading
It is selfish world
Where survival is only for the egocentric
And the innocent civilians live every day
In fear it were their last
As the media discuss the looming of a war
Now tyrants are bigger than their voters
And men's suits are too expensive
To sit down for negotiations
Rulers' hands too sterile to shake in peace
But their autocratic mouths so easy
At declaring and perpetrating war
Oh, how presidential!
Mongi C. Nkabindze
Jan 29, 2018
Jan 29, 2018 at 10:41 AM UTC
this is a tale
of two star-crossed lovers
with a love so powerful
they tainted the heavens
with bursts of colours
they were never meant to be;
mischievous little kids
finding love in sinful glee
in laughter, between dreams and reality
and though it was lawless,
they found solace
because in every prison,
they found a rhyme and a reason
but even for a love so great,
they could not escape
the fates’ wrath and envy
destiny pulled on their threads
cut them loose, thrusted them into misery;
for their memories were wiped clean,
but feelings remained as strong as they had ever been
the boy exiled in a far off land
across the pacific sea
the girl trapped in her need to break free
in a realm both boring and bland
ensnared in a labyrinth of woe
the lovers yearned for anything—
for something, for someone,
to obliterate this endless longing
the gods answered them
in the form of two loved ones
polished in every edge,
a perfect someone
but perfect felt too perfect
and not perfect enough
to fill up the hole
left by a perfectly imperfect
until one day the gods whispered
for the winds to push the two
and the birds to tug at their sleeves
over mountain and sea
even through the darkest valley
so their paths would finally meet
and so they did.
in the flurry of a moment
a pair of brown eyes met
and time was frozen
once more
the two stared intently
as if remembering a broken melody
a lost childhood song
branded as a wrong
the birds fluttered and flew
taking the cursed red fibre
snipped them in two
and the lovers felt all the lighter
it was the girl who spoke first:
**** the stars.
i don’t want perfect,
i want you.”*
eyes dazzling, the boy nodded:
*“we’ll invert the universe—
the night sky a blank white
the stars pitch black
the earth moving in reverse”*
the fates saw and surrendered
as the stars began to wither
for this love is love
in all its splendor
so the lovers walked away with a promise
under their breaths, they both swore:
*“i lost you once,
but nevermore.”*
****
Jan 26, 2018
Jan 26, 2018 at 4:56 AM UTC
She
Diamonds in the sky
Pearls in the ocean
Gold in the soil
Precious stone
Which can't you be?
Young, bright and free
So fine and even,
Like the clear day sky
Your smile vivacious
Like a million fine diamonds,
You set the nights ablaze
You confidently show,
With no bruise from your trials
Only you spark a selfless shine
Exclusive and limited edition
Heaven's aesthetic design
The Porter's only master piece
Souvenir to the one who tastes your glory
Who could ever escape your reign,
Whether in memory, or in fantasy
Or in absolute consciousness?
True splendor of all womanhood
The only feminine beauty the earth has ever had
Prestigious gift from nature's generosity
Like the light of the day
No one competes with you to shine
No one would match even if they tried
You're your own time, and your own space
For you stand alone, and you stand out
Well of colorful butterflies
Spring of all happy colors
Architect of the rainbow
All your shades allure
All from your core
Perfect inside out
The colour of your heart
Mongi C. Nkabindze
Jan 24, 2018
Jan 24, 2018 at 6:50 AM UTC
Weeping Tree
Weeping tree
In a place I haven't known
Only known to our forefathers
You've been told in tales
Giants of the land have journeyed
In quest for your warm embrace
While the minute ants from the dust
Have ignorantly grazed
Right under your mysteries
You've been a mystery to the seeker
But a treasure to the holder
Weeping tree
What haven't you been?
You've cast a shade under for the goats to rest
You've sprouted branches for the birds to roost
The nests that host future generations
Are founded and knitted upon you
You've been shelter to the needy
You've shouldered Mother Nature's mistakes
A bearer of comfort and affection
A groomer of the future
A harbour of hope
Weeping tree
But you've showed to me your other shade
You enticed me with your collectedness
Wooed me with your sentimental stance
And lured me with your sweet reverberations
We closed the distance between us
I found my share of the forever told mystery
Your embrace warm over me
But you got a little more harsh on me
Like the broad wings of an angel
Your branches covered me
You brought me close to your stem, roughly
Your embrace turned into an engulf
Your pats into slaps
You pressed, you smothered
You let me die inside of you
While I died inside of me
I died
I hope you weep
Weeping tree
Mongi C. Nkabindze
Jan 23, 2018
Jan 23, 2018 at 11:32 AM UTC
You came in my life
like an oasis in a lonely desert,
Simple but charming you seemed
in that white T-shirt.
With a plain expression
I asked your name,
"Friendship, they call me,"
you replied to the same.
And well, we spent
most of our time together.
Chatting, laughing, playing,
irrespective of weather.
But then, I met a haughty
and loud girl named Pride.
On being with her,
my feelings for you died.
And now that you have
left me all alone,
All I do is gasp,
grumble and groan.
Jan 17, 2018
Jan 17, 2018 at 6:41 AM UTC
First Time Around
First day I got around
I took a look around
Sight was marvelled
But also terrified
By this site
My feet wandered
I didn't find my place
Poets so established
Poets published
I was frightened
I didn't have the gut
I knew I was no poet
All I had were a few pieces
Of expressions
I took chances
I was humbled
By the love
By the support
From there I knew
Here was home
I just needed to be me
Transform all the pressure into respect
While I transformed the thoughts into words
For now I know this
I don't have to fuss over rhyme
The words don't need the rhythm
I don't have to lie across the bonnet
To come up with fiction in a sonnet
Is it just me or I'm not alone
To often misread He'Po
As Hippo?
Haha!
Mongi C. Nkabindze
Jan 17, 2018
Jan 17, 2018 at 2:47 AM UTC