By: Khomotso Makitla
Day one was the first time.
Meeting the world, at large.
Differences and dependents in abundance.
Breaking out of your shell, was better than walking out.
There's was a lesson to learn on how you shell out.
Tortoise shell protects and kill, once the script is flipped.
You struggle to move, suffocating from within.
Crocodile tears doesn't help, but curls you from the truth.
Moved by eternal grief for longing, and foreshadowing.
Like a paper kite that struggles to float, but sinks
You could feel the weight, weighing, all the air dense.
For a second you feel like voicing out, but all that suffocating has boxed you in.
And like a slave you're caged in, and all your fears comes to life.
Like the sunshine, the beacon
Keep the eyes and palms in the sunlight.
Lest they deem you a petty thief.
Leave the brain in the blue of the shade.
Lest it overload, then quickly burn away.
As for the heart, keep it locked away.
Deep in a fortified ribcage.
Give the key to a cloud above a stream.
So, nobody can see or hear it scream.
Into a silent oblivion.
The slithering winds passed through my ears,
While hounds of cars and bikes were passing by,
Like a pilgrimage of sheep, heading towards somewhere,
There was smoke and dust in the air,
Intoxicating me into its thin layers,
For a moment, I was alone. I can smell the rotten buildings
Which they call heritage,
A dome stood in front of me, it was almost fifty feet high,
It was on the corner of a building, built like a Colosseum,
Showing symmetry on its rounded side, the windows were many,
Yet I suffocated seeing it,
The tall, pale columns of Corinth and Ionia,
I was petrified, I don’t know why.
The grey atmosphere seemed terrible for humans.
Trees black, sky grey, so the tall buildings were,
Suddenly, I was in the traffic, water gushing from a street tap,
There were horns blowing all around,
Soon I reached the bridge and it was infested by Devnagari,
The yellow Ganges flows beneath it,
ships were busy, so everyone was,
It was not the first time leaving the city,
But it felt so.
I paid the driver upon reaching the station, and stopped thinking much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cedar fragrance floats softly in the air
like old ghosts awakening after sleep.
Inside, yellowed envelopes carry
the silent burden of hands
that never delivered their confessions.
A brittle map traces borders
that dissolved with the century's breath.
In the probing moonlight,
tarnished brass hinges moan.
Beneath folded sweaters,
apologies fossilize,
and grief settles like dust
on unworn wedding lace.
A sapphire brooch recalls
the heartbeat under a collarbone
where it pinned courage tight
until surrendering.
Trapped light holds
what daylight wouldn't understand.
Within attic walls
the lid groans echoing
how memory bends
under its own weight.
Secrets don't suffocate here~
they become the wood's grain.
Hands
Crowd my neck
squeeze me of life
suffocate my mind
cruel
Calculated
Cold blooded
strangulation
I met him when I was twelve years old.
He was like a shadow with no name.
He slipped inside my body,
And my fear acted like his throne.
When I'm alone,
He wraps his fingers around my throat,
Gradually fastening them,
Asking me to finish the game he started.
Through every sleepless night,
He whispers in my ears:
"I won't leave you.
Not now, not ever."
I try to breathe,
But he draws all the air from my lungs.
I try to run,
But suddenly, I’m surrounded by darkness.
your footsteps beat with lightning and thunder
inching closer with each bolt
as i feel your figure at my feet
i don’t dare turn my shoulder
for you might be there
with black soulless eyes
a clever grin
your hands by your sides
so i rush with caution
as the streets start to desert throughout the town
the clicks of your footsteps seem to fade
my shoulders exhale with ease
as my grip loosens around my keys
i breathe out in release
before firm fingers hold me close
i turn to ice
as clocks stop their tick
my feet stay planted
there i am staring
frozen wide eyed towards you
my heart pumping in my ears
i pull
i twist
i shout
i scream
until all that as left is my voice
you tug towards me
as my pride leaves
inch by inch
fabric and cloth
bare and broken
wet drops move down my aching limbs
i am left glued to the floor
then all time continues once more
left behind me is you
who has taken what i never knew.
Hey girl!
Sleeping with a heavy heart still?
Unquestionably, I understant!
I understand the anxiety,
the pain, the depression
of things not going your way.
Unquestionably, I understand!
I understand the weight,
the suffocation, the desolation.
But hold up still,
Wipe off tears still,
And Hit the road,
For, the journey ain't over yet!!!
He got buried six feet under
No eyes to see the thunder
He has no heart to feel sorry
He has no soul to feel any worry
He simply is and is all there will be
He would want a will but would fail a feeling of ease
He got buried six feet under rock and stones
Did his killer feel remorse? Did they see his bones?
Either way it wouldn’t matter, for he simply wouldn’t know
Even if he knew anything at all, he would know only death
For that’s what we all think when we take our last breath
Rotting away inside the living room wall
I hear you and your new family
Playing board games
Loving Monopoly
They sound so happy
If only they knew how you disfigured me
Every time you touch the wall
I think about the plastic bag
You wrapped around my head
My cheeks blushed, turned red
Nails broke off
Trying to claw to no avail
Am I dead right now?
I used to have a seat at the table
I used to hang pictures on the wall
I used to have a name
What is my name?
Where am I?
Am I in the wall? I can’t breathe!
I am trying to move but I can’t
I am not strong enough
I should’ve noticed
The space between us.
Death comes close in the night
when shadows grow and sleep envelopes, relaxing guards
who snore slumped in corners
their spears and shields useless on the ground,
their dinner crumbs of cheese and bread
just laying there for the rats to nibble.
Amid the sleepers and nibblers Death glides
like a mist; oppressive and still, and dead
leaving a taste, a scent, an air of such an otherness.
The rats scurry off
and the sleepers shift within their dreams
caught, held and slowly suffocated
till the last breath of Life is gone...
Then what does Death do?
The old shapeshifter wakes
and puts on the face of day.
(first published in my 4th book of poems BEGINNER'S MIND, 2019)
Breathing is affected today.
We're feeling like a shortage of adequate breath.
No, it's not for the closeness of lovers,
or not for their instincts awake,
but the bell of death.
It is ringing all over the world,
we are about to fall.
Though we had fallen before from humanity,
but now it has no effect to feel sorrow, feel guilty at all.
Once we have hurt our mother Earth.
No, she is not taking revenge,
mothers' are always merciful,
but she is giving her moron children a good amount of learning,
by which their behavior can be changed.
Soul on fire fueled by deceit, insanity assumed power while fear controls our streets. Who can we follow when there's no one left in charge. Despite quiet whispers repeating another dead end.
I remain heartbroken but chest is still beating hard. Miserable at best hearing echoing confessions, self neglecting guilt, war is supposed to fight for a cause. This will never be over the world’s conflicts won't ever end.
Some will argue against anyone, it's like pissing in the wind. Always has something to say just stop no one cares. Riots consume towns, every politician says you can trust me. They swear everything's okay then why are people still suffering?
Toxic lies in the air as government enforces suffocation, oxygen everywhere, but there's mandatory mask asphyxiation. Plenty air out there, but not allowed to breath. Sacrifice any thing willing for a war not worth our nation bleeding.
Trees blowing in the wind of the moment
Now flowing they lend nothing at, towards
To them they speak the language, sacrament
The love of the daylight hours with awards
Seeing a lady sounding scraping swords
Feeling the bark of the tree suffocate
Like a smash in the stomach, penetrate
Leaving a mark of breathlessness, no sound
Taking the toll of whispers, signals fate
With no one but the lonely left around
Russell Sivey
I dreamt of you last night
I felt strangled in my sleep
You loved me so fiercely
A feeling I didn't know
I ran from you
Just to keep my sanity
I realize each day the mistake I made
It suffocates me to the point of pain
You walked in the day
I walked in the night
I was the dark
And you were the light
I seek you again
To atone for my sins
I know I'm not worthy
But live in the hope
Please accept my apology
So that I might feel again
Stop this suffocation
Help me remember how to breathe
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