March 31, 2006

A different kind of love

How beautiful his words
Mirrors that reflect me
Melancholic yet happy
His words are the hands that stroke my brow
The arms that engulf me
And hold me close to his heart's warmth

How passionate his words
A symphony of language
A splash of colour
That speak my meaning

I am the ventroloquist's dummy
Moving my lips
While his words speak

I am in love not with him
But with his words
Which make her love
So much truer

March 30, 2006

illogical answers

body of steel
mind of metal
passionate gold
we are demons
engraved in madness
rage and fire
answers burn
holes in logic
fact is not fact
until dreamers unleash
their anger at being spoken down
poverty is for the pure
the rest of us are cursed
with illusions of wealth
give me the money
to hell with fame
truth and insanity
are often very much the same thing
logic holds no comfort
so it is the irrational
i have decided to turn to

March 29, 2006

The end

I died in a dream last night
And found myself in purgatory
With the poets, and writers, and rappers
Got caught in a conversation
With Tupac and Shakespeare
On the power of rhyme & reason
Old Will found American English treason
And Pac thought the rhyming couplet thing
Was totally overplayed
I left them sharing a pipe of heavenly weed
And moved on in search of Pinero
Who was chatting up a transvestite
For a line
Still seeking a cause
He reminisced about the nuyorican
Still waiting for his soul mate, miguel algarin,
To come join him for the next chapter
Of the hereafter
Seems I had ended up in the place where writers go
Between heaven and hell
Lorca, Wilde, Themba, Wright, Hughes, Baldwin were all there
Kerouac, Williams, Biggie & Ginsberg too
The list was long
And I had no time
Coz morning was coming
And then I awoke

March 28, 2006

love lost

she left footprints
on my heart
small, size 4 heels
with every step she took
she laid faint traces of her
on my soul

i can still taste her scent
taste her smile
feel her footsteps lingering

March 27, 2006

Planetary purpose

The moon dances
To the cracking of stars
At midnight
The planets tango
Across the milky way
And I have found a home
In the universe

My world is beyond this reality
My dreams are of this earth
My body is merely a vehicle
Something to occupy me
While I plan my true journey

It is all very confusing
But one day it will make sense

March 26, 2006

Zero

For the first time
I have nothing to say
Any attempt to be mildly poetc
Fizzles as the words start
To touch my fingers
So I am just writing
Breaking up the lines
Pretending that within this
The muse touch lingers
Tonight she has forsaken me
It has to happen some time
I have no fear because
Sooner or later
She shall return
And we shall lie
In each other's arms
Once more

March 25, 2006

What I am

I am
Not because of the clothes I wear
The places I go
The people I see
The songs I love
The rhythms I dance to
The books I read
The space I was born into
The parents I have
The food I eat
The jokes I laugh at
The way I walk
The way I talk
The colours I like
The way I cut my hair
The car I drive
The work I do
I am not african
Because of all these things
I am african
Because that is the soil I breath
And the way my heart beats

That is my essence

I am african
Without definition

March 24, 2006

Earthly manifestation of hell is colourful

Ghoulish demons run the earth
Bearers of lucifer's insanity

These dark, stonelike creatures
Dance a fiendish dance
Melodies of which are silent
To the naked ear

They follow the dagger
On its journey through the ages
Crouching in the shadows
Lurking in brothels
Flying on invisible ethereal strings

Evil manifested is whispered
In the ears of those susceptible
To the devil's charms
And that is all of us
The madness that lurks in our hearts
May be clouded by thick, dense branches
But exists all the same

Who knows what the future holds
With the chaos that already exists

March 23, 2006

Fairytale

They stood toe-to-toe
Two men with hearts of stone
With the weight of a thousand
On the shoulders
And the pockets of a few
On their necks

They have fought, and sweated
And laughed, and cried
All for this moment
Standing toe-to-toe

They have been called by many names
Fighters, warriors, boxers, pugilists, beasts, animals
But in their hearts
They build a future for their children
With each punch, each blow,
Each drop of blood that bleeds from the multitude of cuts and bruises
Painted across their faces

They hurt each other
Out of love for their wives
And mothers and fathers
And children

It is a cold world
And we carve pieces of our flesh
Out is something beyond a dream

March 22, 2006

Black spoon

She was born
With a black spoon
Tucked beneath her tongue
Dirty, vile
It is symbolic of the life
That she would come to live

Mommy worked all night
And slept all day
Daddy slept all day
And worked all night
Just to create a life
For her
Until one morning
Daddy just didn't come home

He was found
A few weeks later
With a hole in his head
And a gash in his heart
Face down in a clotted puddle
Of his own blood

And not long after
Mommy didn't come home

She was found
with her throat slit
Gagged and nude

And she
She lived with a black spoon
In her mouth
And darkness in her heart

March 21, 2006

She cries

When god cries
The water falls
Perfect drops of life
That wash our pain away

When god cries
Her essence reaches deep
Into the earth
Between the roots
between the layers of human existence
To give life

When god cries
Rejoice, children of the soil
This is the one moment
When tears bring joy
And not pain

When god cries

She cries

When god cries
The water falls
Perfect drops of life
That wash our pain away

When god cries
Her essence reaches deep
Into the earth
Between the roots
between the layers of human existence
To give life

When god cries
Rejoice, children of the soil
This is the one moment
When tears bring joy
And not pain

When god cries

Yesterday

I live 24 hours in the past
It helps me anticipate
The movement of time
I am never surprised

March 19, 2006

Mommy

Mommy
I hear voices
They speak to me daily
When awake &
When cuddled in the sandman's arms
They whisper with the morning breeze
Mumble in the afternoon heat

They speak from within the trees
The grass and the leaves

They tell me of a world that once was
Before we came and wiped nature unclean
They say that their time has come
To reclaim what is theirs
When we shall no longer be
And the world becomes what it once was

Mommy
I'm scared
Will we be here tomorrow
The flowers and the rocks and the trees and the wind and the earth seem so convinced
That we shall disappear like the dinosaurs
And if we refuse to go willingly
They shall take the necessary steps
To help us on our way to extinction

Mommy
I hear voices

March 18, 2006

Footsteps

She hears the footsteps
They echo off the dusty, cracked pavement
Rattling her heart against the trees
Precisely 10metres apart
Disappearing both behind and ahead of her
The trees crooked, drooping under the wieght of a thousand winds, reach out for her
And the footsteps continue to beat a dark rhythm
It feels like a horror movie
When heavy steps double back on hers
She walks faster
Heart the bass to the steps treble
And the steps ring faster
She stops and they stop
She starts and they start
She takes off her shoes and runs
And they go silent
All she hears is the splatter of bare feet on the dusty, cracked pavement

March 17, 2006

Beyond the past

The ancients speak
And we listen
With our inner minds
Translating wisdom
Into the realities
Of our wildest imagination

We seek the validation
Of those who came before
Suckling knowledge from
Their breasts
Inhaling spirit from their words

We are the torchbearers
Carrying words beyond the past
Acknowledging the power of the future

March 16, 2006

Today - Tomorrow

remember the 'no'
that made you cry
remember the 'yes'
that made you smile
remember the tears
that broke your heart
the hope that preceded dreams
the morning that started with laughter
the dance that created tomorrow
the moment that built a life

remember it all
when the sun seems to have set permanently
when the moon perpetually hides behind the clouds
when the stars don't seem to shine as brightly as they once did
when laughter turns to tears
when love turns to heartbreak
when dreams turn to dust

remember that a life
is the sum of all its moments
the sum of small tragedies and small victories
remember that success is defined by self
and we determine life fulfilled

remember

March 15, 2006

Ancestral blessings

Their words come to me
On the edge of the wind
Push aside my thoughts
Consume my words
And take control of my hand

My writing hand dances at their will
Grabbing at my notebook
Commandeering my pen
To gently place their words
On these pages

I call myself a poet
I call myself a writer
When it is their words
I plagiarise
Against my own will

I have no insights
My wisdom is drained from their knowledge
I have nothing to say
My voice is theirs
The movement of my lips
Caused by the strings they control

I am an empty shell
An insignicant vessel
How then can I claim achievement of dreams spoken in my voice
When it is them who speak?

The voices in my head
Have taken over

Such is my existence

Until I find the answers
I shall continue to pretend
I have something to say
Words to speak
Thoughts to write

March 14, 2006

Stone warrior

Stone warrior
Carved from the soil
Of a thousand years
Keeper of ancient secrets

When we leave this earth
He carries our souls in his heart
Our bodies decay
Giving life and substance
To his essence

White water
Black rain
Red leaves
Blue sun
Purple moon

The stone warrior
Is humanity beyond physical definition

If that doesn't make sense
It's alright
Coz I can't figure it out either

March 13, 2006

Return to recipient

Dear mama,

I hope these words find you in good spirit and good health,
I am taking a cue from LKJ
And writing you this letter
Though I know that I can never post it
And you will probably never read it
Unless you can get God to give me a forwarding address

(I know I have spent a lifetime
Questioning his existence
But I am hoping that she exists
Just to ensure that you get this letter)

Things have been hard since you left
Those many years ago
I have travelled far in spirit
Though I sometimes feel like I am standing still
I have lived to the best of my ability
And loved to what seems to be the worst of my personality
But now I am fine,
At least in terms of love
(That is not the purpose of this letter)
- I met a lovely young lady a few years ago
And we are working towards her being a lovely old lady
With me, an old man, still in her arms

Anyway, I have often heard a voice
That sounds like what I think your voice would sound like
A voice that whispers
In moments of chaos and doubt
That the meaning of life is in the fulfilment of dreams
I am sure it is you because my father, your husband, tells me that is the kind of thing you would say

I have tried but, at present,
Find myself flailing aimlessly in pursuit of your, my, our ideal
I have exhausted all possibilities of help
And now I turn to you
My mother
The one who carried me
And feed me
And loved me
For a little assistance

I am not asking for anything major
Though the winning lottery numbers would be nice
But rather a little push in the right direction
Or a small sign that everything will be alright

Just something to remind me that it will all be worth it in the end
Though the end seems distant at present
(If otherwise, please send a warning)
And it is tomorrow that scares me most

Well, that's it really.

I do hope that you will be able to put in a word somewhere
Or reach through the mist
And prop me up.

I look forward to hearing from you
Soon

Lovingly

Your son
Always

March 12, 2006

Words are often random

Words are random
Stiched by schizophrenic thought
Letters reversed
Twisted in chaos
A witch cackles
At my failure
To get my broom
To carry me to the moon

Cosmic desire
Romance on the moon
Daylight trysts on mars
With sex-starved mermaids
Hobbits have relocated
From middle earth
To set up brothels on jupiter
Pimping elfs
And serving bettle juice
To the assorted travellers
In need of release

Last week
I saw darth vader
Reincarnated as freddie
Moved to elm street
But, with the horrors of today,
He doesn't scare people
Any more
He's talking about moving to venus
Heard about new strides
In plastic surgery
Which could transform him
Into david beckham

The opportunities are endless
For re-definition of self
The wealth of possibility
Is senseless
So many words
And not enough time
To learn them
So much to say
And not enough vocab
To say them

This is random
Don't you just love
The fullness
Of nothing said
Just taking up space

March 11, 2006

tomorrow is no longer

it is dark
and the stars peer sheepishly
through the black curtain
in the winds above

i sit listening
to the dull drone
of the engine
inhale deeply
and listen
to the silence

mama
i hope to see you
soon
it is time

we shall be together
once more

March 10, 2006

Beyond Part II

She dreams of living
Faraway from here
Beyond the moon
The stars
Somewhere in the 4th dimension
Where all you need is
A hitchikers guide
And a blanket

Daddy doesn't love mommy
The way he used to
Daddy doesn't touch mommy
The way he used to

And she dreams
Of travelling so far
She won't hear
The sound of mommy crying
Or the sound of daddy's fists
Tearing into mommy's flesh
Or the silence
After daddy has run out of steam

All she wants
Is to live beyond earthly tragedy
Out there
Beyond the moon
The stars

Beyond


Blog: http://infinitepursuit.blogspot.com
Poetry:
www.artistswithoutfrontiers.com (Writer's Section)
http://othervoicespoetry.org/vol8/baffoe/index.html

March 09, 2006

She will always love me

She will always love me
Forever spoken for a lifetime
Lived for eternity

We were young once
Laid our souls
At each others feet
And hoped a dream

We turned that hope into a reality
Neither of us could have dreamed

We were young once
And I had given up
On the beauty of an eternal possibility
While she had found comfort in the solitude

We were young once
Two souls drifting towards each other unknowingly
And now
As the sun sets on a lifetime of collective experience
I know that she will always love me

As my hair greys
My skin sags
The shine in my eyes dulls
The bounce in my step reduced to a shuffle
Her love sparkles
Growing strong
And giving strength

The children were our children
And now they share blessing of their children
Our house has become the home
Carved with the symbols of our forever
Our hearts, while beating weaking everyday,
Have become the foundation of our love

Because of all this
And the words that do not need to be spoken
I know that she will always love me
And I
I will always love her
Soulfully

March 08, 2006

slaughtered sheep = lamb

in my next life
i plan to lay out statues
of icons
and take pot-shots
at their ideology

we are sheep
led by man-made madness
we are zombies
on a celebrity-driven feeding frenzy
we are fools
blinded by bling

who defines our fabricated truth?
who decides what's hot & what's not
who is the puppetmaster
controlling the strings
that make us hopping marionettes
chasing dreams within hell's kitchen
never making it into heaven's lounge

pound for pound
we hold the power
in the beating of our hearts
thought for thought
we hang on the illuminati's coat-tails
nibbling on the scraps
thrown our way
in return for our blind loyalty

we all saw the matrix
believe it fiction
live in non-fiction
follow hollow meaning
wallow in shallow living
it is the shadows that truly live
we
we will continue to dream

March 07, 2006

Inner confusion

My inner child speaks
In ancient metaphors
Time trapped
She finds comfort
In the simplicity of similie

Her incessant questions
Often drain me
I struggle to answer
Because I too seek
The answers
So I can't answer
To her satisfaction

When I reach for
My feminine side
I let her speak for me
Painting rainbows
In the grey that is my reality
But I'm a bit of a control freak
So that only happens temporarily

Often we laugh together
Whispering in the privacy
Of my heart
The only interruption
Coming from he who resides in the mind
Imposing his logic on our harmony

Which makes three
He, she, me,
We are disjointed layers of me
To be is the infinity
Of the different sides of me
But my truth lies in he & she

March 06, 2006

Huh?

I dance with crickets
Rubbing my feet together
To create the soundtrack
To our frolicking

In an attempt
To write poetry daily
I speak of madness
While basking in normality

This is silly
They say that I should write daily
Set aside a time to exercise
My writing muscle
And when the words won't come
Just write and write and write
Till something comes

Today ... Still nothing

March 05, 2006

functional schizophrenia

the hunter lies prone
aiming at his prey
we run aimlessly
hoping that the answers
shall fall from the sky
and drench us
with fulfilled fantasy

we are delusional
blind to that which
lies at our feet
sways between the leaves
strokes the sky

that which we seek
is not in some illusion
above and below
it is as real as
the beating of our hearts
as real as the words we read

we are the unreal

i aspire to a vision
but the vision
is in the realness of my action
i speak the answer daily
and do not hear it

i have decided to awaken from my functional schizophrenia
and live a dream
rather than merely dream it

March 04, 2006

Infinite one-step shuffle

One step shuffle
Next step shuffle
Eyes wander
Flit from left to righ and back
Bodies in front
Bodies behind
Breathing
Muttering
Impatient
Irritated
Waiting
Waiting
Waiting for hope
Waiting for food
Waiting for life
Waiting for help
Waiting for dreams
At the bank, supermarket
The doctors, the car wash
The video shop, drive through
All we ever seem to do is wait
And waste minutes of our lives
Standing in lines, queues
Waiting
Waiting
I'm tired of waiting
Tired
Waiting

Between 1am & 2am, the mind rambles

It's one in the morning
The ancient city sleeps
Oblivious the madness of youth
And dull glow of neon

I straddle two worlds
Young & old
I am awake
Eyes bloodshot
Body weary
Spirit driving us forward

I seek the calm of age
The vitality of youth
Both tease me
Without finality
But I know that youthfullness
Is temporary
Its madness will subside
And I will find the comfort
Of sleep
Soon

March 02, 2006

at the end of time, we shall all be mad

i have resigned myself
to the impossibility
of madness
insanity does not hold
its arms out to me
and i am left with nothing
but awareness of self
 
i have craved the beauty
of just being
without worry
without need
without the desire
to fit in
 
i have longed
to reside in the cuckoo's nest
not merely fly over it
but my flight plan
leaves no room
for landing
let alone stopping
 
i have slept
hoping to wake up
in oblivion
but every day
i find myself
in the midst of relevance
a place where i must
participate in absurdity
 
death comes to us all
is it not simpler
to lie back and wait?
is it not better
to just be
without concern for tomorrow
and the after
and the after that
and ... and ... and
 
the end is a foregone conclusion
why begin?
#end

March 01, 2006

Dance

The sound of love
Is a symphony of natural rhythms
Conducted by two spirits
Guiding the physical
In an unrehearsed dance

The body is merely a vehicle
For a journey to a space
That transcends thought

We do not dance
As much as we should
But when we do
We do so effortlessly

That is poetry
Unwritten
Unspoken
Untouched

A picture

Her picture hangs
on the wall above my bed
Her eyes are shuttered
A gentle smile
Tastes her lips
Soul peers through
The crack in her vision
From beyond the surface
Of her likeness

She watches me
Passing perpetual judgement
Speaking endless love
Giving forever encouragement

When I leave the room
Her image stays engraved
On the inside of my pupils
Her voice unknown
Whispers to me
Her heart pounds in my chest

I am her manifestation
Carrier of her dreams

I draw her breath
Cry her tears
Live a continuation
Of her lifetime

When I close my eyes
We blur
Our souls fuse
We become what we will always be
Two wholes of we
Though I live our life
Inadequately