Am an open book you failed to read.

On a blank canvas like this, I imagine words
Some wild but others peaceful
Some sweet but others bitter
Yet stand as one in perfect harmony
To form a whole far greater than I can ever imagine

How do you measure strength?
The power to hold back?
Knowing I could crush them all
But resigning to silence

hahaha.... coward you say!
Mercy I call it

They say a poem paints a picture📸 It's like every word it's a brush stroke visualizing the unseen.
I like poetry because there's no room to hide but the truth. It dissolves barriers and brings forth what lies in the deep.
Its tenderness & playfulness allows vulnerability to pour out. And provides comfort to let go without judgment.

In this world it's a must to put on a tough skin. We even cage our hearts behind steel bars. But once in a while we reveal ourselves through words of poetry.  Every poem shares a glimpse of who we are🌘
For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.

Sometimes I miss how easy it was taking milk,
As the struggles of chewing meat amount.
But now my teeth are as strong as steel and as sharp as razors,
That I can bite through bones.

I miss the words I left behind
Archived in old books
If I had given it a thought
I would have hung them in the cloud
Rather than be discarded with obsolete things

Today I touched the sky
I soar with eagles
Heard the sun sing melodies
As I danced with the stars

Insanity you call it?
It's a new dawn of happiness

My chest no longer heavy
My heart light like a feather
I decided to let my worries go
Have let grudges die.
I've chosen love over anger, bitterness and hatred
And for the first time in my life,
I know what it means to be free.

I searched for company but found none
I waited but gratitude never came
I became a ladder to lift others
But none held my hand

I envy my kindness and empathy towards you
But am glad I treat you like myself.

You inspired us,
To follow a cause bigger than ourselves,
To make a difference beyond our own lives,
And to understand what it means to be selfless.

Thanks to you, yes you who's asking who,
For showing that it's never about us,
But others.

Wanderer, I keep on roaming in life.
With certainty and uncertainty.
With purpose and sometimes aimlessly forging ahead.
Like a rocket shooting to my destiny,
And other times like a drunkard staggering to keep on moving.
All I know this road filled with mountains and valleys,
The bittersweet path on which I travel,
Will one day lead me where I need to be.
And perhaps when I look back and connect the dots,
It will all make sense to me.
A wanderer in my own journey of life.

I say it many times,
For the people close to me to hear.
Developed a habit of doing
The little things that are priceless.
To let them know how much I love them.
Hoping they'll remember it
When am bitter and unbearable.
Hear the magic words
When I forget to mention it.
And feel my love for them
When am far.

In the smallest things I found it,
It was never expensive to get,
I was shocked how free and available it has always been.

All along happinness has been around me,
I just needed to realise that I've  always been happy.

I badly wanted to cry,
To scream my lungs out,
But I forced a smile on my face,
And watched them be deceived by my laughter.

I guess I wanna be selfish sometimes,
But how can I when every fabric of my being
Rebels strongly against it.
How can I turn a blind eye to their sufferings,
When my heart aches with empathy.
How can I stay indifferent to one's hardships,
When my thoughts torment me at night.
How can I be emotionally detached,
When I involuntarily place myself in their shoes.
How can I simply walk away,
When I keep on bleeding from pangs of guilt.
I can't help it, it's part of me,
To gravitate towards their cry for help.

My chest is no longer heavy,
My heart is light like a feather,
For I have decided to let my worries go,
Have let the grudges die.
I've chosen love over anger, bitterness and hatred.
And for the first time in my life,
I know what it means to be free.

Just like light, you appeared
Illuminating the darkness away.
Just like a glimpse of hope, you came
To resurrect the still bones in me.
Just like a breath of air, you filled my lungs
Storming death like a flood.
Just like yesterday, I was gone
But now am born again.

Just random
Why waste time planning everything out?
Why not just leave it to chance?

Does it always have to be planned out?
Systematically  running like sequences.
Then why can we never predict our future?

Here I am once gain
Or should I say going on fifth.
Repeatedly failing at something
I desperately need,
Which others have got in a go.

Some advise to take a short cut,
"What's the big deal??? The majority do so".
Just a few cashouts to give behind closed doors
And it will be as quick as a snap.
A sure deal for never going through it again.

But I find myself with a refusal
Attempted to, but can't get passed the guilt that would consume me,
Of cheating the principles I stand for.
Throwing away my mother's upbringing,
And compromising my own integrity.

It hurts to go through it over and over again,
Every fail is like a heavy blow in the face.
I ask myself, "where is the Lord my God?"
Or perhaps my many sins have caught up with me,
And am abandoned.

I now plead for mercy,
For I've tried and I've failed.

Weep no more my child
I can see your eyes worn out with wailing
Your heart bursting with argony
And an exhaustion of hopelessness dwelling upon you

Weep no more my child
For I knew upon my death
You would be shattered within
Floating in a river of unanswered questions
Crashed by waves of regret and sorrow
Looking for a way to make it all stop
Perhaps hope to wake up
And realize it was just another dreadful nightmare

Weep no more my child
There is nothing more you could have done
To stop the jaws of death
From claiming my life
For my time had come
But I depart with overwhelming joy and satisfaction
Knowing you were there up to the very end

Weep no more my child
For I made sure you could stand on your own
Am confident the strong person I've groomed you to be
Can face the tides and storms of this world
And the morals I've instilled in you
Will see you through all things

Weep no more my child
For you're not abondoned
Even though they now consider you an orphan
For through your character and every aspect of your life
Am visible to those who can't see me
And within your heart
I'll forever live
What a beautiful place to stay!

Weep no more my child
In you am alive
I feel my blood running through your veins
My strength radiant in your muscles
I see my courage in everything you do
And in your reflection I see myself

So weep no more my child
For am still here within your own self.

Blank
That's what it looked like
But alot in mind.
The beginning was hard to find
Neither could I guarantee it's end
For a series of pieces
Lay scattered all over the place.
Speechless I should say
Yet at the tip of my tongue
I wanted to let it all out
For it flooded in my head.
Confused in my own thoughts
Yet I wanted to give it a meaning.
Curious to know what it is
Yet even it's owner remains lost
At the twist of its peddles.

Fallen apart into ruins
Broken into pieces
Far from the twilight of technology
Buried by the doom cast upon it.

Mist of dust is the air we breathe
Littering of ******* sweep across the streets
Filled with crowds of people
Each chasing their own path to make a living.

In their mist i see wretched hands extended
For a Samaritan to save their weathering bodies
From the hunger that claims their lives.
I watch passersby ignore their presence
Perhaps lost in their own world fighting their own demons.

Accumulated wealth in the hands of a few
The ruthless dictators
Who have stripped this country of everything.

Cries of the poor and helpless vanish
Like a thread of smoke in air
For onto deaf ears it lands.

It's like the forgotten city
Left at the mercy of the reigning demons they serve
No one dreams of its redemption
Perhaps in the hearts of a few
For hope forsake those who persevered
And faith flee from those who tried to hold on.

With nothing to hope for
Days come and go like they never existed
People live and die like ashes blown by wind
Injustices became a norm.

Corruption is a permanent resident
Rooming freely and no one cares to mind.
Epidemics sweep across the land snatching lives of many
For they face no resistance.

It's the way of life
A common phrase used by those
Who try to name the devastating reality.

Beneath all the happiness and glamour it lays
Quiet as if its presence has vanished
But as strong as before
Waiting for the right time to strike

Covered by numerous layers of time
But still significant
Weighing heavily as then
With difficulty I contain it within
But afraid of its inevitable eruption

I allow to be carried away by the present
Let the past be blown by the winds
But remain reminded that
Beneath the daily routines and trends of life
It silently remain present.

Down this road I walk
Without knowledge of what
The future has in store for me
But eagerly looking forward to tomorrow

Down this road I walk
With big dreams and hopes
Of what yet to come
Leaving the past behind me

Down this road I walk
To remain within the present
For yesterday chases me
Like a shadow

I rush out to the future
But it's out of reach
So I keep on chasing after it
Down this road.

I made the choice to live
I made it for me
Despite all the odds against it
I chose to pull out
From the system of common routine
And decided to find my way
So afraid to take that step
So afraid to divert from the norms of living
But knowing if I blended in
I would lose who I was
Someone unrecognizable to myself
But familiar to everyone
I searched deep within
And saw a lie I would live
A lie that everyone else would embrace
For it merged with the customs of life
But a betrayal of thyself.
Heavily it weighed on me
For every moment its mask
Engulfed my personality
It suffocated the person I was
And I could feel the agony of my true self
So with all mighty and strength
I tore the mask apart
And allowed the world
to see me for who I was
Faced with gasps of shock and disbelief
It mattered less
For the true me happily thrived.

You looked but never saw
She was always there
But seemed invisible
She did a lot
But you hardly noticed any
She executed the commands
At your wishes requests
And never questioned your actions
She silently and calmly obeyed
And buried her face in your presence
She bent so low
And never requested for anything in return
But rather fulfilled the commands at hand
She was loyal, obedient and hardworking
She was not a slave
But the definition suited her
For she carried the burden of
Your ungratefulness and selfishness all the way
It's now too late to take it all back
For she peacefully rests in her grave.

I made the choice to live
I made it for me
Despite all the odds against it

I chose to pull out
From the system of common routine
And decided to find my way

So afraid to take that step
So afraid to divert
From the norm of living

But knowing if I blended in
I would lose who I was
Someone unrecognizable to myself
But familiar to everyone

I searched deep within
And saw a lie I would live
A lie that everyone would embrace
For it emerged with customs of life
But a betrayal of thyself

Heavily it weighed on me
For every moment its mask
Engulfed my personality
It suffocated the person I was
And I could feel the agony of my true self

So with all mighty and strength
I tore the mask apart
And allowed the world to see me
For who I was

Faced by gasps of shock and disbelief
It mattered less
For the true me happily thrived.

Hello
I have placed my feet in this place
I have no intentions of leaving
For it mesmerizes me with its beauty

Hello
Am just a stranger
Wishing one day I could call this place my own
For through its dazzling nature
I can see the rises of mountains
And falls of valleys of my village home

Hello
I open the doors of my house wide
To embrace the "Ubuntu" of the place
And to remain rooted to my origin
For everyone is welcome.