After the Storm
It was a beautiful morning,
An ordinary day,
The sun dancing
in the blue sky,
Its light kissing dew off
from the grass.
Nature stood unburdened
by the weight of night,
The lake lay still,
as if learning how not to move,
Another quiet day of swim lessons.
I was a fearless cygnet
in the presence of a pen,
Then, without a warning,
Night stepped in before the sun could sleep,
Before the lessons could begin,
Clouds gathered like unspoken warnings,
Lightning tore through the sky
as if it remembered something forgotten,
Peace left as if it was never there.
My hope folded quietly inward,
and sank deep without a sound,
I tried to hold on to the spark of light,
But the world turned unfamiliar,
Cold wind pressed against my skin,
silence pressed against my chest,
Sorrow moved through my sobbing,
Tears tracing my face like tributaries,
Something inside me loosened.
Grief arrived uninvited,
It kicked my door down,
Sat to my chest like a
stranger who knew my name,
and I stopped resisting it,
I allowed it pass through me.
Now the sky has healed itself,
The sun still rises and dances,
The world still remains round,
The lake still lies still,
But pain have not change it color.
The cygnet moves through deeper
water now,
learning strokes without guidance,
circling where a shadow used to be,
Water reflects quite isolation,
My guardian angel is no longer here.
Copyright © Njabulo Madela | Year Posted 2026
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