there's a kind of calm that happens
before you say okay
a calmness that allows me
to carry on this way
and carry on i will
it's all want to do
i love the way you tolerate
the things i share with you

and therin lies a small reward
that fills me to the brim
to be a part of what you see
to go out on a limb
and carry you i will
it's all i'll ever do
i love the way you celebrate
the wings i share with you

it wasn't my intention
to be this far apart
i'm craving a connection
but i don't know where to start

too precious to ignore
too gorgeous to forget
it burns so much it's sore
but it won't destroy me yet

just know i think about you
every day
and all i wanna tell you
is that i'm okay
and that i'm sorry
and that i don't know what to say

it always has a seed.

we dream, we love, we write, we wake
we scream, we crave, we spite, we take
we look, we hold, we think, we knew

we shook, we gave, we thought of you
we gave, we thought you wouldn't mind
we thought it wouldn't be unkind

we try to find some honesty
we try to fein alacrity
we try to give it what it needs
we try to sow some different seeds

but your specific feather
needs a certain kind of weather
and i want to be the tether
that clings to you forever
and glides throughout your zephyr
reflects off all your leather

or a spy within a castle
with everything to hide
or a creepy little rascal
who found his way inside
or a droid up on a planet
with a tendency to slide
or how about a snake
that sneaks in from the side

and then gigantic monoliths
that seep out of the ground
an orchestra that's tuned to fifths
and makes an epic sound

a legacy that's shorter
contained in bricks and mortar
brings nothing but disorder

and this is why i read.

I GET THE FUSS

i do
i totally do
i hear talk of 'do what you want but hurt no-one'
by hurt they mean harm, i'm sure
but what's the difference

that war
that vicious war
that thing that says 'war is an attack on our existence'
by existence they mean acceptance, for sure
but what's the difference

my place
my impenetrable place
my need to 'not implicate anyone'
by implicate they mean inconvenience, i'm sure
but what's the difference

there's a dark line
between hurt and inconvenience
isn't there
it just isn't there

the sweet sunshine
brings warmth even to the deepest dark

your smile
brings warmth even to the coldest heart

so smile like the sun
and keep on shining

i'm not the same
as i was fourteen years ago
then i bought that house

i'm not the same
as i was nine years ago
then i had a kid

i'm not the same
as i was five years ago
then i got that job

i'm not the same
as i was two minutes ago
then read that thing

when it gets to the middle the book will flip over
as it does when you read it from cover to cover
the magnificent light that got drawn up inside
goes and shines its way out from the opposite side

seas of sometimes amidst winds of want
which would you choose?
years of yearning surround cans that can't
and scripted praise meets cryptic prose
like measured fame meets metered foam
safe, as safe is, as safe does
takes that quiet into its loneliness
and waits

the face of fiction shakes more from most
what did you choose?
flirting fantasies can damage dreams
where beaten fruit finds sweetened juice
and sudden breath finds sunken dirt
wish, as wish wants, as wish wants to be
loves that surprise so unconditionally
and waits

and we wait

i don't see what you don't mind
and i don't mind what you don't see
they might seem incompatible

for me, i saw you speak your mind
but i don't mind, i get it
and i'm not about to forget it
i can't, it's unforgettable
sometimes it feels regrettable
completely unimaginable
it might not seem compatible
but it is

i love everyone
every single one
and everything
every little thing

thank seminal thought
because i never thought
that anyone's special
everyone's special

trust is subtractive by nature
its purpose as random as nature
but i'm only willing to trade
what you might be willing to trade


so i trust what know
and i love what i don't
i use it as currency
in case of emergency

it can buy me your time
bit of yours, bit of mine
i love what i trust
and i know what i don't


at the end of it all it's human nature to seek comfort, and sometimes that happens at the expense of others, whether it's intentional or not.

but when it happens to me it turns the other way round, and i hate what i know, and i fear what i don't, and run devils in the dirt just to make it feel better, to make it make sense or even emulate better; get out of the way, let you have your own way, let you throw it away, hope you find your own way, or just flush it away, i don't care anyway, just in case you forgot.

the things that i hate don't exist
though memory says they existed.
the fear that i try not to feel
destroys me whenever i feel it.
i value the trust that i've earned
precisely because i have earned it.
the love i hold on to has worth
precisely because it is worth it.

chaos
is always there
because it's looking for a reason
to become known.

calm
is always there
because it escaped the chaos
and now it's known.

guilt
is always there
because it makes you assume things
when you should have known.

love
is always there
because it takes the things we feel
and makes them known.

comfort is a state of mind
the rest of it we'll leave behind.

wanna play chess?
okay, who goes first?
that's apparently racist.
and we see this every day.

i really don't know what it is i need to unsay.

i really hope it doesn't hurt our lives in any way.

i really wish that freedom was equally applied.

i really want to change the past
and redirect the future
and not be blamed
or pushed into a corner
or made to feel
like i'm a waste of time
or that i fit some crime

i really want to know the difference between allowed and okay.

i really wish that everything else would go away.

god knows i've tried.

dreams are things you make up when you sleep
some of them cool
some of them terrible
some of them memorable
some of them horrible
some of them drool

but there is a small certainty
that they're everything you
and exist as a probablility
that you need to pursue
as unlikely as it seems
from the ash to the dust
what we learn from our dreams
we should trust

advertising
likes to punch you in the face
so you hear it
loud and clear

when you left
after you punched me in the face
made me fear it
clear and present

social media
tends to punch you in the face
when you let it
presently clear

i don't regret a thing
i stand by what i said, i miss you
no matter what you bring try not to punch me in the head

it's not allowed, out loud

imagine a world where you can do what you want
imagine a world where you could truly be free
imagine what you'd do with your spare time
imagine what you could create
or harvest

now
imagine if that happened at everyone else's expense
imagine if you could take what's not yours
imagine the legacy you'd leave behind
imagine how many you'd trample
or harvest

i'd be scared, or ashamed, whichever comes first
this is south africa
i live here
please stop ******* it up

it's not real, it's not even close
it doesn't even get to the start
it's not loose
nor elusive
it just doesn't want to be apart
from this
this addictive remiss
it doesn't want to be a part of it
yet it should
be apart, so it should
remind us of what we would miss
just by saying no, just once
let it go beneath the shade
if it wants to serenade
let it, if it wants
if it wants to be free, let it soar
if it wants to be alone, let it
let it be whatever it wants to be
let it see what you saw
and never want to see it again
we entice, and ignore
and sit back while it takes shape
hope, fate, whatever you want
you know what you want but i can't

i am not a microphone
i'm not an amplifier
the things you see around me
aren't because of who i am

stuck inside the present dome
i'm not the pacifier
but what i see around me
still ends up on instagram

that suggests it might have been
concealed beneath the bigotry
of someone who presents a scene
who wrestles objecivity
but what if i was wrong
what if i was late
what if i had heard a song
too visceral to relate

then, yes

i am not a journalist
i'm also not a liar
with everything around me
do i really give a ****

so what, indeed, is all the fuss
i represent the rest of us

today is the day that we celebrate freedom
yet i feel like a prisoner within my own home
another surprise to hide in the museum

in my mind, in my might, in all of my kingdom
which i hope that one day will let go of it's own
today is the day that we celebrate freedom

i struggle to capture your intimate wisdom
i couldn't hear a thing that you said on the phone
another surprise to hide in the museum

i'm sorry that you've been reduced to this boredom
a ruse that reminds you you're always alone
today is the day that we celebrate freedom

i don't think it worked out quite like i had planned, um..
couldn't pretend that i'd hide what i'd shown
another surprise to hide in the museum

so what have i learned through all this confusion
my psychic ability to hear this has grown
today is the day that we celebrate freedom
another surprise to hide in the museum

all possibilities happen at once
all at the same time
it's what we choose that's relevant

all opportunities happen at once
all at the same time
it's what we use that's relevant

all communication happens at once
all at the same time
it's what we hear that's relevant

but in that moment
when you find a forest
with a sunrise in it
that happens for you and you alone
that will happen only once
it gets me every time
and will always be relevant

a soul that's
lived a life that's fed up
always ends up
in a landfill
full of souls

identity
we all have it
i am me and you are it
what it is that i know is for you to find out
if i work really hard and get good at it it'll earn me a living
but if everyone knew what everyone else knows
there'd be nothing to sell
and nothing to buy
nothing to share
and nothing to hide
nothing to tell
and nothing to write
nothing to fear
and nothing to hate
nothing to look forward to
and nothing to be proud of

but if i manage to keep that ace up my sleeve
that influences time or even technology
that makes the unbendable sceptics believe
that notable pattern in astrology

what i see is mine because i saw it first
and i saw it explode with a perfunctory burst
it might make no sense whatsoever
but that isn't going to last forever

because if you knew what i knew i wouldn't be me
or have we forgotten what it means to be free
or have we given in to our own charity
or would we oblige to that old blasphemy
that says even sinners deserve sanctuary
or is altruism a strange alchemy
or a studious drive to epistemology
or a political divide over ideology
that critically questions theology

we need to keep secrets because that's who we are
but we also need to be fair

i feel
i feel drained, should i
i feel empty, tired and used

i'm real
i'm really fed up, should i
i'm really not very good at this

i think
i think you love me, should i
i think you're the hole in the sink

and as much as i keep filling it up
you just keep on pulling the plug
let it get to the brim, please

you say i spend my time living it up
but i think there's more under the rug
let's get to the rub, please

let me find my own way
and i can help you with yours

because nature has a funny way of helping those who help themselves, in and of itself, myself

and i think that nature has a means to an identity, the wealth, the stealth, the self

i need to be me before i can ever be a part of you.

a clock without a maker
is improbable at best

so many moving parts
precision engineered
there's a chorus of hearts
that noise that i feared
the moment it starts

so at your sudden behest
i will hasten to wake her

assume if you must
people are not always right
so assume with care

i just can't say it

i know you're right
you know it hurts
i don't want to lock you up
in the same prison i'm in

but then again

you know i'm right
i know it hurts
you didn't want to lock me up
in this thing that i'm in

so i won't talk
if you don't talk
and we'll pretend it never happened

and i'll wake up
and you'll wake up
and do it all over again

i shouldn't play
this game you play
it always ends up just the same

but you have that trust
and i love that trust
for that i'll take the blame

because you are
what you are
and it's all the same

a message from the past
as azure and astute
as it was back then

it's always been there
as benign and berated
as it was back then

you asked me, so i kept it safe
as amazing and astounding
as it was back then

and it's always been there
as begun and begotten
as it ever was back then

it's a symbol of what everything means to me now
a sneaky, subliminal confirmation of how
you trusted me right from the very beginning
that didn't decide what i thought i'd be bringing
it's something that's closer than ever before
and it's hidden behind an impossible door
so i've worn this thing around my neck
each and every night that i've gone to bed
since i made that re-acquaintance
as if i ever had the patience
or all the gratitude in the world

if i squint hard enough
i can just see the line
that exists in between
your opinion and mine.

had i let it connect
or just wished it away
i wouldn't have said
what i wanted to say.

when two worlds collide
in a flash of regret
it's best to take heed
it's best to forget.

the earth and the trees
and the visceral breeze
the distance it takes to its end
five nights with freddy
and everything's ready
to start what it needs to amend.

and then there's a spark
the black and the dark
a distorted reality field
if i could choose either
i'd probably want neither
i'd wait for whatever's revealed.

so when there's no choice
when i've run out of voice
it doesn't mean time has an end
i wish that i'd practiced
those things that i missed
and i'll willingly let them amend.

and when we connect
it'll never be perfect
and that's why i went my own way
and now that i miss you
please know that i miss you
and that's all that i wanted to say.

one day when you're a space engineer
come look me up and i'll buy you a beer.

nothing is absolute, because

i can drive as far as i can
and know i've seen the continent

i can think as far as i can
and know i've reached my imagination

i can study as far as i can
and know i've attained a professorship

i can listen as far as i can
and know i've heard it all

i can give as much as i can
and know it's never enough

i can drift as much as i can
and know i'm still ******* lost

nothing is absolute, except *****
because at least with *****, i'll always be relatively ******.

you know you've made it
when you're good enough at showing off
how good you are at listening
and how well you know the song
and show them all how to lead

that's an intractable skill, i mean
finding one between the other
and getting the dance right
between the two

you know you've made it
when you can't tell one from the other
when it flows through you
how well you know the song
and show them all how to bleed

that's an amazing achievement, i mean
putting one before the other
getting the balance right
between the two

you know you've made it
when both sides make sense to you alone
when it glides through you
how much you know you're wrong
an achievement indeed

not choosing sides
but living the moment
we should sometimes try
and achieve
know not the consequence
nor the challenges
just close your eyes
and believe

it takes a nanosecond to say something you didn't mean
(because you were thinking about something else)
and the rest of the week to fix.

it takes years to build up a modicum of trust
(because you were thinking about someone else)
to see you wander off those tracks.

it takes a while to figure out a man's capability
(because you were thinking about something else)
but it isn't always about the ***.

it takes a little bit of serendipity
(because you were thinking about someone else)
to see you shine beneath those cracks.

that tiny little crack in time
that you think you've been searching for
has already been
or is waiting to happen
or...
you could take the now
that you already have
and bash it as hard as you possibly can
until it cracks

i would hate to live in the fear
of those things
you hate when they're near

in my life i don't ever want to hate
any of those things
but i think it's too late

growing up, getting old
yeah those things
no matter what we're told

living with the hate of this fear
it's those things
that aren't what they're supposed to be

i fear the hate
i hate the fear
i communicate
and they're gone

like a withered leaf
on an old and dying tree
you left me no choice

it must be a combination
of what you expect
and what i provide
that makes everyone take it so seriously

it could be retaliation
a solid precept
that makes us divide
and we all mistake that so mysteriously

it hurts to be found in the one place i know
all battered and bruised but still part of the show
it hurts to admit i was found in the dust
amidst all of the things that you said i would trust
it hurts to remind myself why
i became so insatiably shy
the depth that i saw in your eyes
the colour i saw in those skies
an unrequited lullaby
an unintended alibi
it hurts me to tell you but know that i must
forever conceal what lies under this crust
no matter how badly i want it to glow
no matter how well it can flirt from below

it might be the fascination
that makes me reflect
on how much we hide
and poison the fray inconspicuously
i shouldn't have acted so viciously

it's my cruel imagination
i dared to inspect
i'll keep it inside
and i'll practice until it speaks consciously
i shouldn't have acted so viciously

frustration is something that happens only to me
i shouldn't have acted so viciously
that scar is the half that i don't want to be
i shouldn't have acted so viciously
it's just a small notch above what you can see
i shouldn't have acted
another attempted analogy
i shouldn't
and i'm sorry
*i shh

what is your vice
what is your virtue
and what is your wand

or

what ****** you off
what do you want
and how can you fix it

for me it's the other way round, you see
my vice is i want to be heard
my virtue constructive debate
my wand just ran out of batteries

dark
miserable
forgettable
unimaginable
it's obviously
the best that you got out of me
because that's all i can see

but i won't forget it
because you were a part of it
every single bit
imaginable
unforgettable
miserable
and dark

thank you for your time
your patience and your crime
thanks for what you said
we'll never be dead

i'll keep you alive in the palm of my hand
so you can explain it to me when i don't understand

there once was a little bird
who thought he'd fly home for the summer
and while everyone else was leaving
he thought he'd stay behind a bit
and shack up with that other chick
but then he was off...

the wait proved to be disingenuous
he never made it with the others, as
the winter crept in it got too cold to fly
and his wings got frozen up, so
he fell down into a field
and got shat on by a big smelly cow.

but there in the warmth
his wings had revived, even though
his nose had almost dissolved
from the stench that he woke up into
and he began to sing! so happy he was
that he had survived...

okay, so this one's been used already:
the little dude gets really excited
which alerts a fox, who promptly
trots over and eats him up, with a
cute little bib and a nice chardonnay
and that's the end of the story.


there was a punchline to this little parable
but the gist of it is: don't **** it up
there's nothing to be proud of
being in a puddle of muck
and if you haven't been caught yet
there's no reason to want to...

just do what you're taught
and find ways of doing it better

nothing
is what it is
so please stop asking

something
is what it should be
and not this dark thing

everything
is what i want
so i'll keep on shining

fascinating
to see it glow
to see it glimmering

emancipating
it starts out small
but ends up blinding

anticipating
because i never know
when the cracks start to show
and i shout and i swear
and i don't even care
and i try not to dare
and i battle and stare
we're an excellent pair
we've got so much to share
but it's way out there
and it's wrong to compare
that just wouldn't be fair
there's no reason to go
because you never know
what might be waiting

timing
is what it is
it's everything

opinions are our way of evaluating the world around us
and deciding which part of it what we want to belong to

the rules are the guidelines that get put up around us
and caution us from doing things even though we want to

yet rules are opinions collected
and therefore they should be respected
each one of us has something to hide
but the law must be equally applied
until such time as everyone takes responsibility for themselves, their kin, their stash and their environment, all of us, all at the same time, honestly and decisively, but i don't see that happening for a while.

hurt is not a thing
you pick up and carry around with you

guilt is not a thing
you pick up and pretend it's okay

love is not a thing
you mop the floor with

no
hurt is your experience of it
guilt is how you deal with it
love is what you do with it
whatever it is
that's okay
it's okay
it's okay
shh...

it's stupidly unfair to think
that mine's a saturated shade of pink
while yours takes on a different hue
that oscillates from green to blue

i try to sucker up each day
prepare for whatever it throws my way
it helps me calculate the cost
of the ground you thought i lost

it's got this sentimental worth
like this, and everything i've kept since birth
i'd rather not waste any more time
i hope to be your paradigm

and then we'll paint a sunset scene
the sun, the sea, and everything in between
the trouble that i put you through
the beauty that i see in you

i've done nothing wrong
but i'm willing to concede
that i got it right

i really wish i could give you a hug
another surprise to sweep under the rug
i really wish i could take it away
that look in your eye you brought with you to say

but then again i wish i didn't need to
armour wouldn't work if it were see-through
and when it seems we're just about to make it
my armour disappears and i'm all naked

i really wish i had more than these words
another excuse to hang out with the nerds
i really wish i could give you a hug
because then you'll know exactly how i feel.

between the blue and pink, i think
the brown and green will sink
and in this loneliness i hope
you choke
you choke
you choke on your ambition
like it wants to be
the world to see
the fading of our history
drives home
drives home
drives home and parks the car beneath
the tree
the sea
i hope

if ever i take shelter there's a
chance i might forget her
an illuminating light
its right
its right
its right to think that i'm afraid
its normal to be foolish
and see your mind as selfish
as what mine would like to wish
but then there's you
there's me
there's everything that we could be
the tree
the sea
i hope

a few hours ago i was vulnerable
like the slimy green gums of the pavement
yet some of it was tasty
(impatient means it's boring)
i shouldn't have been so hasty
(isn't worth ignoring)

a few hours ago i felt terrible
like i was part of the next government
i tried to create some sense
(i clearly wasn't winning)
but it came behind a sentence
(and everyone was grinning)

i know i should have given it my best
i'm pretty sure it passed the test
but drives it in too deep
flies in way too steep
if only i could keep
a secret
i wouldn't have to lie at all


the last few months have been that hazy
like i was a part of an indelible accident
that you probably didn't mind
(aim before you throw)
not sure what stays behind
(dig before you sow)

the last few years have been that crazy
i hoped it was going to be permanent
that little bit of rock n roll
(i tried to learn your language)
was definitely worth my soul
(and used it like a bandage)

i reckon that it might make a mark
it only begins with a spark
but then while you're asleep
the dreams you could reap
if only i could keep
a secret
the perforated sky might fall


the next few days i must accept
whatever fits into your judgement
pretend that i want more
(am i serious now)
or go back to before
(as if i knew how)

it isn't what i meant to say
it's that i went and said it anyway.

if there's one thing that i really hate
it's being told what to do

when i can love and frankly tolerate
the things life puts me through

but times are wrought with greed
i just don't see the need

and what i thought was easy
comes right back out to tease me


i'd rather wait and anticipate
choose darkness over blue

cry shame on those who try to take
from others what's not due

but there within my head
i've ventured all that's said

i wish that i had found
the silence that's abound


the knowledge of who's right or wrong
is a blemish from the past

it's my need to comfortably belong
to a space that wants to last

and just when i get home
the sight of polished chrome

bends me to my knees
gives in to the disease


it's there within my head
and gets ridiculed instead

it's not about how you look
or the clothes you choose to wear
or the way you make your face up

it's not about your heart
or how you choose to feel
or the way you let it get to you

it's not about what you said
or the fact that it was hurtful
or the circumstances that led to it

it's the fact that we can't communicate
that takes away all the beauty in you
a two-way dialog that says: hey wait
i really wanna get to know you
it's across this space that i postulate
how different life would be without you
the thing that harbors all this hate
is exactly how i'll remember you

and is it worth it? i don't know
there's still way too much of it on show

and suddenly we pause, relax
not so much to leave the tracks
to stop and catch a breath of air
there's plenty of it everywhere
it gets abused, but that's okay
it's said all that it needs to say.

silence has another verse
the seriousness is just as terse
it means so many things, you see
draws a line between you and me
takes the things that make you proud
and makes you say them out aloud.

i heard you, yes i feel the same
a tired, fractured, pointless game
the same we tried to play before
that left me wanting so much more
it took some time to manifest
appreciation at it's best.

thank you for the time we shared
thank you for the times you dared
to let me hang along with you
for giving life a different view
understanding how it goes
is a quality in you that shows.

we found you alive
welcome to our family
thank you for coming