31 | 31 Poems for August 2017

There’s something exquisite about your smile, your brown eyes have got me hypnotised, and your heart is a gold mine.
I’m addicted to everything you say and do, so be my poet and I’ll be your muse.
We’ll figure out everything else once we’ve found something to do between our sporadic bursts of laughter.
Let me comfort you with soulful conversations accompanied by several bottles of red wine.
We could vibe out and listen to James Blake, and you could tell me about the days when you couldn’t see the colour in anything.
I’m no stranger to the waves of the ocean, so I eventually want to get lost in the depths of you.
You are a picturesque South African city worth exploring even when tourists no longer come to visit.
Their dollars, euros, pounds, nairas and rupees may run dry but my love for you will keep overflowing.
I could write poetry and love letters on your skin but my handwriting is not as beautiful as my words are.
I’ll be your poet in a world that’s still acquainting itself with all the writers of exquisite African literature.
In the Supreme Court of your love, people have told you untruths while under oath – I think the law calls it perjury.
We could vibe out and listen to James Blake, and you could teach me how you see the colour in everything.
I want to get lost in an endless field of sunflowers while basking in the warmth of your presence.

30 | 31 Poems for August 2017

I need coffee and poetry and music by Solange, Emeli Sandé and Floetry.
I need love and freedom, I need to know that God is in my life even when there’s pain in my eyes.
Our love and chemistry was beautifully overwhelming but I never wanted you to say goodbye.
You left without any warning, you left and I need to know the reason why while I keep listening to Cranes in the Sky.
I tried to drink it away but every time I did, I woke up the next day feeling intensely inebriated.
I have cried myself to sleep on days when the world was dancing to the rhythm of my melancholic heartbeat.
I have fallen in love with my own solitude, but lately loneliness has taken over every single part of me.
You still have my heart beating in rhythms that are foreign to my existence.
I find it useless spending all this time apart while we keep admiring each other from a distance.
I have been waiting for you to help me get rid of this miserable and lonely life of mine.

29 | 31 Poems for August 2017

Get me a bottle of ***** and a glass of Hennessy.
Give me love and I will provide unforgettable memories.
I wouldn’t readily admit this, but you’re my love and you’re my light.
God always hears our prayers so I know that we are going to be alright.
You will never lose me to the wind no matter how hard it decides to blow.
I had given up on love and happiness before you walked into my lonely life.
From a distant stranger to an unforgettable muse all the way through to sharing several glasses of wine with you.
I’m banking on you to not withdraw from the love we have both invested in.
When people ask, let them know you found love in the city where jacaranda trees light up the streets with their purple blooms.
I want to dive into the ocean of your love until I’m soaking wet with happiness.
Until I am drowning in the depths of your love with no need of being rescued.
Love and liberty is all I need from you until our grey skies go back to being blue.
But I could never spend the rest of my life without someone as amazing as you.

28 | 31 Poems for August 2017

My sneakers’ shoelaces are as tangled up as the words I tried to say to you.
The words I tried to say when you were slowly slipping away from my grasp.
I surprisingly stuttered when I tried to tempestuously tell you how I felt.
Now I’m wondering what to do or what’s going to happen next.
I’ll just sit here going crazy and patiently wait for your call or text.
My sneakers’ shoelaces are as tangled up as the words I tried to say to you.
So, don’t be too surprised when I don’t respond when you ask, if you can hang out with me.
However, I still want to read all the love letters your lips and hands are yet to write on my skin.
It is spring now but you have the presence of summer clouds and I have been staring at the sky ever since you left.

27 | 31 Poems for August 2017

Her eyes are the same colour as her brown skin; you should see the world through her pupils.
Often at times she had no need to say anything because through her eyes you could see a different perspective of the world.
Her eyes eloquently spoke a language that was foreign to anyone who hadn’t experienced the vibe of South African townships.
But you could always understand her because those eyes were filled with hope, love and happiness.
The wisdom she constantly utters every single day may often remain unheard.
But the beauty of God’s grandeur will never go unnoticed; you can see it in her hazel-brown eyes.
You should see the world through her pupils; her eyes are the same colour as her brown skin.
I see the sunflowers in her eyes, the love that radiates from her aura is drawn from within.

26 | 31 Poems for August 2017

These pictures sharpen the edges of blunt memories.
All I ever wanted was for you to feel my words like Braille.
But somehow you were blinded by the sight of someone else’s love.
All I ever wanted was to be the poem written on the pages of your soul.
I constantly keep reminiscing about the days when I used to feel whole.
Whenever I’m feeling low, I get high off the thought of blunt memories.
I need love and freedom – I need to let you and all our memories go.
Our love is as deep as the ocean but I can no longer go with the flow.
I may never find a reality worth dreaming about if my heart is filled with doubt.
All I have left are these pictures of you that slowly sharpen the edges of our blunt memories.
If your blunt ever lasts longer than our conversations then I hope you’ll get high off the thought of you and me.

25 | 31 Poems for August 2017

Take me back to the day when the girl I was crushing on crushed my feelings.
I lost my smile and my confidence, everything changed and I never looked at things the same.
Sometimes I ask myself if I’m really chasing dreams or just chasing heartbreak.
Prescriptions changed but no amount of morphine could ever ease the pain.
Even though it may seem insane, I will always take pride in the scars I gain.
Take me back to the day when the girl I was crushing on crushed my feelings.
The worst thing about it all is that the guy I was compared to wasn’t even half my standard.
There were certain things that we both didn’t mean to say, but words were uttered anyway.
My hyperhidrosis is evident but in all honesty, I try not to sweat the small stuff.
Take me back to the day when the girl I was crushing on crushed my feelings.
Sometimes I ask myself if I’m really chasing dreams or just chasing heartbreak.
There is so much pain and disappointment that my fragile heart can take.
This whole thing hurts but I try my best not to let all my emotions show.

24 | 31 Poems for August 2017

Nothing lasts forever, and that we both knew.
Now we’ve become strangers with memories.
We were bound together by our mutual gravity.
But nothing lasts forever, even the stars die eventually.
It’s hard to proceed and progress with the burden of our stress.
Please sit beside me in silence, I just need to know that you’re here.
I’ve been dreaming with my eyes open ever since the day I met you.
It was your presence that held me together as my world fell apart.
I wonder how long I’ll keep walking around with this broken heart.
Our love became a poem that we patiently wrote without words.
Our peers have fallen in love with the habit of not falling in love.
I miss the days when we used to speak French without saying a word.
I keep doing this thing wrong and putting myself in places that I don’t belong.
Another night with ***** in my cup accompanied by the lyrics of a Drake song.
So, cry if you need to because it’s hard to proceed and progress with so much heartbreak and stress.
Touch if you need to and I’ll stay to hold you because you need to know I’m still here.
Talk if you need to because the silence between us is destroying the bond that we share.

23 | 31 Poems for August 2017

I thought that I’d find closure after writing poetry about you.
But every time I finish writing, I find new ways of missing you.
I’ll try calling you or you could hit me up on Facebook or Twitter.
I cannot stand these people when they are all cold and bitter.
You should know that I’m done chasing trouble and heartbreak.
Got detours and delays, I’m still trying to rectify my previous mistake.
I could’ve handled it better, but right now the past does not really matter.
You settled for a takeaway when you could’ve had the world on a silver platter.
So, let's just keep ignoring each other, and pretend that each of us does not exist because ignorance is bliss.
Do not call me when you can text me, matter of fact, don’t ever call me again.
You only remember me and the intensity of my love and affection whenever you are feeling lonely.

22 | 31 Poems for August 2017

Some nights are the hardest but this bottle of wine flows better than my favourite rapper.
So, the heartache gradually dissipates with every glass taken and the smile on my face inevitably grabs the attention of a stranger.
Some nights it feels like my days are numbered like a calendar, like the pages of my favourite book.
But the problem about this story is that there is no ******, the protagonist dies in the middle of the story.
It’s funny how the moments when I was almost left for dead are the moments when I felt most alive.
I had given up on finding happiness and love before you walked into my life.
From a distant stranger to an unforgettable muse all the way through to sharing a glass of wine with you.
When nothing else in the world makes sense somehow you always do.
Some nights are the hardest but this bottle of wine flows better than my favourite rapper so pour me another glass.
Pour me another glass because time spent in your presence is always filled with happiness, love and laughter.
Some nights are the hardest but this bottle of wine flows better than anything you ever thought it would.

21 | 31 Poems for August 2017

We have both grown up and in that process, we grew apart.
You weren’t emotionally prepared when I said that I love you.
You dismissed my feelings so cold and quickly, I questioned whether you were planning to stay.
In hindsight, it’s obvious that you were destined to leave, what were your plans anyway?
I’ve been writing melancholic poetry and hoarding unforgettable memories.
I question everyone that does not pledge their allegiance to love and loyalty.
I have been reminiscing about the past and all the time that we wasted.
Music that I listen to reminds me of something distant that we used to be.
I should have given you every single part of me when I still had the chance.
I finally understand that it’s too late for me to be apologising for my mistakes.
Apart from attempting to become lovers, we were good friends and now we don’t talk anymore.
It’s such a shame, not even a simple hello could ever suffice, now tell me who’s to blame?
Is it me for becoming emotionally distant or you for giving up too easily on something worth fighting for?
I’ve been looking at your pictures since you left and I can’t seem to delete them from my phone.
When you dismissed my feelings for you, I questioned whether you were planning to stay.
In hindsight, it’s obvious that you were destined to leave, what were your intentions anyway?
We’ve become strangers with memories, it’s obvious that you will never love me like you used to.

20 | 31 Poems for August 2017

You are what I never thought you were and became what I never thought you’d be.
You’ve cheated on every test that love gave you but somehow, I forgave you.
I stopped trying to mend a broken person the day I realised that I was one.
My hands smell like petroleum from all the bridges that I’ve been burning.
I have humbly grown from every word and poem I wrote back when you and I hardly spoke.
This love is a battlefield and it was foolish of me to be losing limbs for someone who wouldn’t go to war for me.
Getting played like a grand piano did not guarantee me the chance of listening to symphonies.
I gave you exclusive views to breathtaking galaxies, but somehow you still needed more space.
If writing about you ever drives me crazy then make sure that my straitjacket comes in blue.
I’ve been experiencing Sunday blues and I haven’t seen much of you, so tell me now, where are you?

19 | 31 Poems for August 2017

I can never make you love me no matter what I say or do.
Disappointments seem to be the foundation of my progress.
I’m gradually beginning to realise that success is a slow process.
I dislike how you tend to forget about me during some nights when you’re drinking wine.
I gave you honesty and honestly speaking, going back-and-forth with you is exhausting me.
Over the years, our friendship has been tainted by rumours that everyone knows except for us.
There may have been some chemistry between us that we both chose to blatantly ignore.
I wrote many of my poems in Braille for the kind of love I was desperately longing to feel from you.
I’m still falling for you, and my words are revealing so that’s why you’ll know that this poem is about you.
I find it hard walking away from a woman whose arms I have always wanted to run into.
What should I do now with the love that I have always wanted to give to you?
All I’m asking for is you, and I can’t bear the thought of someone else being next to you.
I’m jealous and I know that I will probably be the last one to ever admit it.
I’m a lover without a lover but never loveless, so what am I supposed to do?