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 Apr 2018 Siphumelele
LostInFire
Every night when i go to bed
i just wish to meet you tommorow
every second is like weeks for me
i just want to see your everyday
just for a minute
so i can say to myself

YES! AM STILL ALIVE
i know this is not so good but pleasee i want to meet you just for a minutes only a minutes
And life was like a highway
The Soul-- a car.
The moments speeding by
Blurring together.

But how many times have you stopped
Just to gaze--
Just to slow down,
For once.

For once? --why did matter
How fast you were going,
Or how slow the horizon was growing.
For once: why drive at all?

It seemed that: drive.
All it seemed. All it is, really.
Could you leave?
Or are you stuck on this continuum?

Maybe it was the way the sun's gaze
(that day specifically)
Held the world in such
Un-timely grace.

Like nostalgia held under the lime light.
But it was gone as fast as it came,
What's left is-- well-- memory.
Couldn't you have stopped?

And now it's stuck behind your mind.
Like the black blotch
Of a crack
In your back window.

But regret is no more than rear-view mirrors
And and empty tank.
Wouldn't the sunset be so much better
If you weren't headed towards it?

I mean--

How many times did you escape,
Just to walk-- heck,
To even measure how long
The pavement lines were?

Sometimes the best thoughts we have
Are just backtracking to find gas.
But that's regress...
Isn't it?

But maybe a new body on an old frame
Doesn't cut it.
You're worth less if you have miles.
Yet without miles, you lack the rustic wisdom.

--whatif

What if death's the only destination.
Then why even bother
With where you're going?
If the sunset fades--

Look,

You could have all the moments
Pass your window
Or
You could simply gaze.
I know why the caged bird sings.

It's not because his song
is as vibrant
as his feathers, that he plucks away
each day because he doesn't
feel beautiful.

It's not because of the majesty
that exist in the freedom
of being able to spread his wings
though he knows
he'll never rise to the occasion.

He sings because he believes
that this cage
was made for a king
because he has never tasted
freedom with a side order of skies.

He's never flown past the sun
on a cool morning
or hung with the moon
on a warm night.

He's only ever known
the comfort of a prison
that his thoughts have
become accustomed
to calling home.

He would never venture
beyond the "welcome" mat
because what's beyond the threshold
holds no promise
the way these bars and metal locks do.

He sings because he knows
that no one is listening
so if he makes a mistake
he doesn't have to live with the regret
or embarrassment of knowing that he missed his note.

The caged bird
never believes that he's caged
because behind these walls
he's safe
and he prefers it this way.

I know why the caged bird sings.
A twist on a title by one of my favorite authors...
 Apr 2018 Siphumelele
island poet
the island’s delineating shape is not its realized limitations,
nor a redoubtable defense
against the elements or invaders of the mind

the skin of the land welcomes tides and waves
as gentil lickings,
a seductress’s first caressing volley enticing, firing
but calming

even when the crashing contemptible violent contretemps come,
the winter’s stormy wrath or hurricane tongue lashings of the fall,
partially forgiven for its forced renewal,
but only,
but only so much

the island -  my home,
is not a prison but a happy imposition,
its restrictions make inward looking, mirroring, front facing,
a truthfulness demanding,
our self-exploratory word surgeries are precious, precision treks,
required to survive, then revive, declaim,
then exclaim

we are island folk and though our island's firmament defined,
it's poetry
is ever unlimited
 Apr 2018 Siphumelele
Valerie
art
 Apr 2018 Siphumelele
Valerie
art
in a world full of colour,
i am a blank canvas.
 Apr 2018 Siphumelele
Pixie Ellis
Dear Cute Boy At The Party,

It was nice meeting you. Again.

I bet you didn’t know you were the first person I ever flirted with. I bet you didn’t know I prepped for this date for a week. I bet you didn’t know how much my heart soared when you asked me out.

Thank you for telling me that I have a cute laugh. Thank you for telling me how much you wanted to see me again before I even left. Thank you for walking me back to the station.

It was nice talking to you.

I know when you complained about the chair, it was just an excuse to sit next to me. I know you want L to like you back. I know you deserve someone who treats you better.

It was nice that you finally messaged me, a week after the party.

But I bet you didn’t know how quickly I accepted the fact I’d never see you again. That I’ve already wrote you two poems and that I’m sat listening to the songs you recommended to me. Thank you for making me realise that the right guy will come along, but not right away. I thought I’d just be that girl at the party who’s name you can’t remember, or face you can’t place, but I was wrong.  

It was nice meeting you.

I‘m excited to see you again next week.

— p.d.e
I went out on a date with cute boy from the party, last night.
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