Brown-Skinned Man

Brown-skinned, beautiful brown-skinned man
Soft, smooth skin and strong dentures that can chew up bones to the marrow. 
Head strong, accommodating a sharp brain that invents and adapts with time
Hands well built like the ancient castles, the Great Zimbabwe 
The blood in his veins carries life, hard work, fruitfulness and plenty of goodness
His body withstands any weather, come rain or storm

But alas, his skin is not so beautiful,
For it turns him into a human target for savages' ferocious and relentless attacks
What good are his dentures when they are sprawled all over the place in pools of blood, 
Blood that carried so much promise but now means little as it seeps into the ground
That strong head? Broken. Brain scattered all over the place and I wish I meant that metaphorically
What good are his hands when they're tied up behind his back
Or his body when he's restrained and pounced upon like vultures picking out a carcass. 
His body can withstand the weather, but not the lashings of a neighbour turned villain
Where is my superman, children cry,
My superman has fallen, lying in a pool of his own blood while the villain licks his machete like the demented, cold-hearted murderer he is

Do you not realise that by persecuting your neighbour, you're handicapping yourself?
Do you not know that you are punching your own body, cutting your nose to spite your face?
Don't you hear the cries of my beautiful brown skinned man when you carry on burning him alive, because I certainly do, from thousands of miles away
And my tears could flow into a river if they found a way
Like parts of a tree, we need each other,
Love is the trunk and we are the branches, without love, we dry out and die. "One love, one heart - let's get together and feel alright".

A Picture...

A picture

Too often (these aren't lies)
I see a lot of girls and guys
Liking and sharing pics online
Of couples smiling in the sunshine
And the caption is along the lines
Of "Relationship goals" and I'm wondering why
A picture. 

A picture can tell a thousand words
But most times it has got nothing to say
With a billion plus selfies on Instagram 
Does that mean that's a billion priceless times? Slam
that laptop shut and look in the mirror
Because a picture captures a moment but never the clearer
Picture of the reality of the struggles and victories of the so-called happy people
And a thousand likes later one user's envious like never before
Because of a picture. 

A picture doesn't begin to tell half the story
A picture leaves enough for the imagination; it's a mystery
Because for one to know how happy, sad, excited or hurt a person really was
They'd need to have been there and seen it with their eyes
So why do we give so much power to something with a million interpretations but just one definition
Known only by the one behind the camera and whatever is in front of it
When your opinion and perception and everybody else's hate is irrelevant 
A picture. 

Pick up a magazine and take a look at the model
All "perfect skin", "perfect body", beautiful smile, when all she really needs is a cuddle
Because after that stressful photoshoot with dozens of eyes ogling her
She runs back to her room and cries out why life did this to her
Because behind the facade and the lies and the happy smiles lies a girl who's broken and in need of love
Then she sits in a puddle of her tears, her rosy cheeks glistening from the light reflection as she sends a little prayer above 
So before you place your hopes and dreams
Upon a picture depicting happiness that may not be
A series of pixels of many colours and hues
Pay attention, don't fall for the ruse
Get up and get your own happiness
Because only you can truly know how happy you are, sweet; 
That is the only selfie you can truly believe in
A picture worthy of a thousand words

Believe Me, I'm lying...

He poured his heart out to me,

Like torrents of rain on a gloomy Friday night in the countryside

I was young and naive, vulnerable and fragile

Cynical, I never was. 

Trust, love, second chances and faith were the food to my soul, 

without those, I was as good as a withered rose.

He poured her heart out to me, he poured it all out.

Naive as I was, useless and too trustful, 

Gullible and fragile, I took his word for it. 

I've hated, I've scorned, I've been angered for his sake. 

I've cursed and I've hurt; I've provoked for his sake. 

I've lied and I've cried each time I blamed myself for his misery. 

I never loved myself enough to think, to believe, to imagine 

That I could be a good and worthy person - oh no. 

Then he poured his heart out while I sat there and listened.

The dark clouds, a symbol of the storm that was fast approaching, 

Were merely some cute fluffy grey clouds to me. 

How was I to know that it was a sign? How was I to know?

As vulnerable as I was, he entrusted me with important information. 

He toasted me with his cries like I was a piece of bread, waiting to be devoured

He even buttered me both ways, and in one bite, I was gone.
Young as I was, I listened to his story. 

'Believe me' I heard him say, and I took it all in like a helpless child. 

But if I had listened more carefully, I would have heard him whisper softly in the shadows of the night, 

'Believe me, I'm  lying...'

20 July 2012

Oh, Goliath...

***Dedicated to my great aunt, the inspiration behind this challenge. May Her Soul Rest in Peace...***

The silent cries of a life slowly fading before one's oblivious eyes,

The crowning glory that once adorned her head became nothing but a fading memory; what once was. 

From the paling of the skin, skin that was withering like a flower devoid of moisture, 

To the groans, the struggles and the pains in every inch of her body

His cunning ways were so inconspicuous, she barely suspected a thing... 

Like a thief in the night, he slowly crept up upon her, catching her unawares

She left the windows of her life open, she let her guard down

because aside from eating her fruit and veg and visiting the gym every once in a while, was there really more to it?

Yet he still came

He still destroyed her very slowly like a venomous snake

He dug his sharp fangs into the core of her being, releasing every bit of his malicious, malignant molecules into her

He took shelter in her body, invaded her like a parasite and stayed as if he was in paradise

He made himself at home.

The battle had just begun

She found out too late and the shock took a toll on her

She lost herself in the process

And as if that wasn't enough, she also lost her life...

While he sat and watched and snarled and smirked

"What you gon' do 'bout it?" he seemed to say

The invinsible, the undefeated, the Goliath of the millenium

I dare say I'm taking a stand together with the world

This Goliath may have won a few battles, but we are a new David with a forceful sling

We shall stand to slay the Goliath that's destroyed our lives, took our loved ones and showed no pity

Together we shall be a voice, a shoulder to lean on, a helping hand...

Together #WECAN