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Oct 8 · 168
Goodbye?
Tao Oct 8
Breathe, take deeper breaths
Organs are shutting down now
To the Golden Gate!
Apr 2023 · 132
Tammy
Tao Apr 2023
Thin top wide brimmed
Flowing white dress with high heels
Like custard jelly
Lol
Apr 2023 · 355
Love
Tao Apr 2023
Time waits for no man
But when I first saw your smile
My world exploded
Dec 2022 · 976
My Dao
Tao Dec 2022
The sun dies as the night comes to start my day anew
The glistening tears threaten to fall
Twinkling; thrumming on taut sinew
Grey define my mood
It foams and rolls, it toils and crawls
Again the thunderous sound
Again regretfully it sounds
The stable seas unleashed
A cry carried on the wind
In the deafening crash
           I seem to hear the sound of my
       heart break
Long time no see
Apr 2022 · 875
Dissociation
Tao Apr 2022
I exist at a depth, beyond wallowing and sorrow
Where No emotion could reach, except love
But love has betrayed me, love
has left me strewn and sown;
Haphazardly, irretrievably, sown

I stand now, not broken.. unfixed,
Unhinged.. from pain, from grief
Removed from tears, my heart; a sieve
that is unwanted by love, undesired by it.
Though it dwells in me it spares me no thought.

Though I have reached out,
I am held down like Atlas
The tension is unbearable, tearing;
at the self-inflicted knots, caverns of solitude
Pits of loneliness

Left unsaid, is the hurt
Gnawing at the pillars that once held,
carried the burning torch that lit up my soul
I am undone, I am alone.. I am alone
#singleforever lol
Oct 2020 · 194
Threshold of Sadness
Tao Oct 2020
the sparkling song, now lost
while standing on the threshold of sadness
a happy heart, now forbidden
I say goodbye to beloved days together

the cold claw of deepest sorrow
press my heart tender
the tear drops, streams me down
oh, the moaning of the child hurts

the twisting voice and shining laughter
the wisdom in her voice
I miss it so much, her warm hand
what rubs so over my chin

call me, then?
I so long to see you again
to spend time, just us together

call me,
I'm coming on foot
I bring heaven
R.I.P my fallen countrymen
Oct 2020 · 326
hartseer se drumpel
Tao Oct 2020
die sprankel lied, nou verlore
terwyl ek op hartseer se drumpel staan
n blye hart, nou my verbode
sê ek totsiens aan geliefde dae saam

die koue klou van diepste smart
druk my hart teer
die traan druppels, stroom my af
ai, die gekreun van die kind maak seer

die kinkel stem en glansende lag
die wysheid in haar stem
dit mis ek só, haar warm hand
wat vryf so oor my ken

roep my, toe?
ek hunker so om jou weer eens te sien
om tyd te spandeer, net ons saam

roep my,
ek kom aan gestap
die hemel bring ek saam.
R.I.P my landgenote #covid19
Dec 2019 · 172
Haunt
Tao Dec 2019
I went to the hospital today
My aunt suddenly fell sick
Walking down the hospital halls
My throat grew tight, my spit, thick

An old man lay dying
On an hospital bed
Wrapped in a *****
No pillow for his head

His eyes were the worst
So empty and sad
Was he regretting his life?
All the fun he once had.

Or the love that he lost
Was he once a married man
Was he wishing to return
To when his life first began

Even now I can't sleep
As I remember the frown
When he tucked in head
As the nurses did rounds

Did he need anything
Was he bearing the pain
All the joy having left
his hollow remains

I wish I didn't go there
To visit my Aunt
As I struggle to sleep
While that old man haunts
Never, Ever, Ever Again
Sep 2019 · 348
No faith
Tao Sep 2019
Is it any wonder
They are jealous of your strength
You bleed every month
And have met with death

Though you fear
May shed a tear
And your voice may sometimes shake

When you decide to speak
It's an earthquake

They struck you once
And hit flesh
They struck again
and bled to death

One thing they remembered in shock
You strike a woman, you strike a rock

It's sad to see, my own gender
Degrade the one that birthed us
It's no wonder, they have lost faith in us
Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo'
Jul 2019 · 142
Pur
Tao Jul 2019
Pur
Tired of my heart bleeding
Children walking on shells
The air keeps whistling

I glance up at the red sky
Fire eyes
Baby, please stop crying
Bye

A Belfast breakfast
Hold the sauce for now!
Ka-plow?
Do you want your burger rare sir?!

The phoenix song
A riff to die for
No soul left behind
Soon, and very soon
Mar 2019 · 334
Dry Spell
Tao Mar 2019
Peter, from the dry Karoo
Never cries, because he's poor
Always does what he is told
Never questions, he's not that bold
Drags his feet so he can walk
Moves his lips so so he can talk
Though he's known to never utter
Even wishes he could stutter

Peter, from the dry Karoo
Skin so dry, eyes so poor
Wishes he could smell a flower
So his life could be something other, than dour
Food is soft, so he can chew
His gums are sore, his teeth are few
His liver, drier than a mummy
Hmm.. Never knew his own mummy

Peter, from the dry Karoo

Sees farmers cry, for rains to pour
The pipes are dry, their hands are sore
No one knows what else is in store

The people don't have much to eat
Their families might live on the street
They're threatened death
They're land be lost
Their children shot, killed at no cost

Taking land without compensation
It's the talk of the town,
in every conversation
#pray4karoo
Dec 2018 · 179
Forever Without You
Tao Dec 2018
How can a rock weigh so little
When the steps you tread were so deep
When your voice resonated in my soul-
are thoughts in my head as I'm dragging my feet
Never thought I'd be carrying you in a box
I remember you telling me you're claustrophobic
Now you're laying there, so cold
My demons have never been this bold

I feel like crying, knowing that I can't
Never cried again after those words you said
I feel dry, I feel like throwing up, I feel like I should die too
Knowing that's something I shouldn't put my family through
How could you leave me feeling like this
How could you give up so quickly, knowing you'd me missed
I hate you for that
I miss you more

Remember our phone calls we made when it was cool
We'd talk all day, then talk some more straight after school
We never grew tired of each other, I was so in love
We had love, living in a world so rough
The first kiss I stole while you were star gazing
Had me all hot in the winter time, I was blazing
You got all mad and told me that I should have asked
I told you there's no point arguing about things in the past

Now I'm all alone, tell me what I did wrong
I give my all to fix this
I know I promised you that I'll be strong just for you
But this break up, is probably our last
I don't want to be without you
Delving again
Oct 2018 · 747
The tragedy of Sue Aside
Tao Oct 2018
I may seem crazy saying this,
but haven't I always been?
Sometimes laughing at everything
keeps the tears from being seen.

When you're in a lonely, crowded room
with people who love to chatter.
And conspire and gossip about anything,
like you're not there, you don't matter.

Bring out your smile, and dazzle them
with an un-containable mirth.
With your sunny disposition,
entertain them without remission
and show them your pitiful worth.

And when all is said and done
And you're all out of "fun"
Get your noose out of the closet

And then shock recognition
And threaten damnation
Then kick out your chair of salvation
I might just get some flack because of this.

“We of the craft are all crazy. Some are affected by gaiety, others by melancholy, but all are more or less touched.”

Lord Byron
Sep 2018 · 198
Earth "Day"
Tao Sep 2018
The Earth is crying
It's pain of loss too deep
Too much of youth is dying
All she can do is weep

Every word, too much
All the prayers, too weak
The Earth is crying
And things are starting to look bleak

The Earth is drowning
Too much children, so many sins
All this crowding, no one knows how much pain she's in

These new methods of suffocation
We don't try hard to invent
The Earth is drowning
Too much of her blood is spent

Nature is dying
Taking her last foul breath of air
Once she was thriving
Now no one cares that she's there

She has no time for friends
Just trying to live the last days of her life
The Earth is crying
in her last days of deprive
Last Notice, on-tap is running dry.
Sep 2018 · 243
Abide
Tao Sep 2018
I am not blessed, nor merciful
- I am not righteous in life
I am filled in everlasting
by unrequited strife

I am in enduring pain
Hurt again and again
Yet, I forgive in a way
that there is nothing to gain

I am unfailing
in this, daunting mission
Struggling without commission

I am married to fate
That, has been tiring as of late
Still my faith keeps me walking
However much Death keeps stalking

I will bear my curse in stride
As long as you, in me abide
I have no idea!
Sep 2018 · 240
Pale
Tao Sep 2018
She would always smile
With an alabaster grin
What else is hidden
Writers block, the erectile dysfunction of authors.
Sep 2018 · 424
Soul
Tao Sep 2018
sometimes, when I seem to be staring at you

... I'm not.  

if you see me **** and look a little embarrassed

it's because I'm back from wherever I've been  

lately, I've been spending quite a bit of time there, instead of here.  

"Which gives me furiously to think.."  

is where I've been actually where I'm supposed to be

and this is where I'm not?  

sometimes I strain to hear your footsteps,  

echoing silently on the cracked walls of my broken heart,  

causing tremors under the waters of a teary sea

a tsunami on the shores of a soul that doesn't belong to me

if love grows stronger through trials,  

then the structures that hide in
caverns of my mind  

are the work  

or the brainchild of a sociopath with a broken smile
What!? I WAS DRUNK!
Sep 2018 · 493
Deathly Humour
Tao Sep 2018
Death stood staring stoically
As I let my last breath slip
Poised to ****** my soul
And take it on it's last trip

Fitting that in my last days
It's company I kept
Frowning, waiting
Watching as I wept

A breathless sigh
And rolling eyes
It mocked
My end was nigh

As if on borrowed time
It kept glancing at the clock
Nervously I kept praying for help
But I knew that door was locked

"Finally!", it would have crowed
when it's dark scythe appeared
A cold sweat broke when I realised
My judgement day has neared

It grinned at me
So damnably
As it swung it's evil tool

I waited, with my eyes tightly shut.
Then groaned when it shouted,
April Fools!
When the doctor says, "Oops!, sorry we had a mix up!"
Sep 2018 · 327
Mirage
Tao Sep 2018
I met a seer of note,
One night while visiting a fair
Drawn in by her hollow stare,
While she was standing on a passing float

I was caught in an unyielding grip,
As she held my attention with her eyes
They promised to tear me strip by strip
As she'll sort the truths from my lies

She beckoned me with a crooked finger
As she stepped off the float's deck
I thought I'd dare to linger,
But felt a clawing at my throat, a threat

With a quickened step
I went after her, with haste
Closer, the feeling of fear crept,
The rising bile, I could taste

Like a gracious host, she told me to sit
And then grabbed my hand in her claw
Her eyes directed me to a cup full of grit
I forgot to breathe at what I saw

A hand, severed at the wrist
In a place, shrouded in flames.
I recognized it as I felt my heart twist
The hand of my brother, James

Tears fell from my eyes
The memories came down crashing
I saw her smile and felt my anger rise
My eyes may have also been flashing

What right did she have
To bring up something so painful
Then have the gall to laugh
At succeeding in being cruel

"I have a message for you"

She said, staring down her nose at me

"Your brother has something to say.
He knows about your pain and anger, at what happened on that day."

Then from underneath the table, she brought out a package

"He said, to give you this. It was taken from the wreckage."

My trembling hand shot out and I took from her the gift
Then I ran out alarmed as the tent was swallowed by a rift

Once I was at a fair, where her all-seeing eyes beckoned
Then I found myself in my bed, gasping air.
Must have been a nightmare, I reckoned


Then I saw on my pillow
The cruel truth show
The gift from that seeing cow
Sitting with an eerie glow
A dream, come frighteningly true.
Sep 2018 · 282
I never knew
Tao Sep 2018
When I was younger still
I knew a girl with a hollow stare
Her hair was black and her skin fair
And she walked as if with a broken will

I knew her well
At least I thought I did
But I was still yet a little kid
I never knew what stories her tears could tell
At night, when they fell

We played sometimes
Our little games, were many
Our imaginations knew little limits, if any

She said, "how fleeting are the pleasures
that are disguised to bring you pain.
How little is held of the memories we gain"

At night when we were called inside
Her little grip grew stronger
I always thought she had decided
To play a little longer

I never knew
Her laughter few
Her breath haggard
Her stumbles staggered
Her blood spewed
I never knew
This bothered me the whole day. Even my fingers felt uncomfortable. Maybe I got possessed, You never know.

— The End —