16 | 31 Poems for August 2017

Have you ever met someone whose smile could make sunflowers grow?
She has an affinity for hip-hop music and any good pair of clean sneakers.
You should hear the sound of her laughter on a warm Wednesday morning.
I swear I’m intrigued and obsessed with the little things about her that the world fails to appreciate.
Her fingers write the most alluring words on the blank pages of my heart.
Constantly reflecting beauty as she speaks, she is simply a paragon of art.
She knows that I’m a hopeless romantic who insists on remaining hopeful.
In the morning, she smells like strong black coffee, cocoa butter and good intentions.
I still want to hold her heart like the lonely autumn trees hold the fragility of clinging leaves.
I think I finally understand it now, I’m a hopeless romantic who insists on remaining hopeful.
I’d love to feel my heart beating to the rhythms that are foreign to my existence when I’m sitting next to her.

15 | 31 Poems for August 2017

Listen, if I’m willing to talk to you, will you listen like you always do?
It has been quite hard for me to acknowledge the fact that we’re through.
Saw a few of your pictures on Instagram and Facebook, I’m glad to see that you’ve finally found someone new.
I wish nothing but love and happiness for the both of you, I really do.
At the end of the day, I’m so glad that I got the chance to have met you.
There’s this girl who has made me realise that maybe I don’t have to die to get to heaven.
Her beautiful cocoa butter skin proves that her complexion is truly a blessing.
It doesn’t matter which book I’m reading; her love is the scripture that my heart believes in.
She is simply a poem with feet, her soul is well-versed in love so eventually I asked her to walk with me.
It has been quite hard for you to acknowledge the fact that we’re through.
You’ve commented on my pictures on Instagram and Facebook, you’re glad to see that I’ve finally found someone new.
I’d tell you more about her and maybe show you what she means to me, but that’s a poem for another day.
I hope the person that you’re currently with has made you believe in the essence of true love again.
Because you deserve something better than lonely nights saturated with pain.
I’m happy for the both us, glad that we’ve managed to find happiness again.
We can’t change what happened in the past, we were teenagers back then.

14 | 31 Poems for August 2017

All you can hope for is someone who will pray with you, someone who will pray for you.
I’ve got you covered like warm blankets during cold winter nights.
I’ve got you covered and not like those dodgy life insurance policies.
Everything is complicated and my feelings are hardly reciprocated.
But everything is different when it comes to you and what you do.
It’s because of your love I get to see myself from a different view.
So, tell me that I’ll be whole again, tell me that I’ll be yours again.
What we share is beautiful so love, tell me that this time we’ll never end.
Show me who you are again, hold my hand and guide me through the pain.
Love me across beautiful South African cities and never let me go again.
All that I can hope for is someone who will pray with me, someone who will pray for me.
You’ve made me question if all the women I’ve loved before were worthy of my love, time and effort.
Nothing has been the same ever since you came and now you’ve made me question a lot of things lately.

13 | 31 Poems for August 2017

I wrote many of my poems in Braille for the kind of love I was desperately longing to feel.
I’m still catching feelings; my words are revealing and that’s why you’ll know that this poem is about you.
Let me tell you about my version of events while we listen to Emeli Sandé on any given Sunday.
For what it’s worth, I was only trying to make things work, but I got high on love during my hiatus.
I’ve had to learn to love you in silence and as if that wasn’t enough, I’ve had to learn to love you from a distance.
I know you didn’t give me permission to, but I already started talking to God about you.
Maybe in your quiet time at exactly the right time, I could possibly be your one and only valentine.
I think I finally understand it now, I’m a hopeless romantic who insists on remaining hopeful.
Let me tell you about my version of events while we listen to Emeli Sandé on any given Sunday.

12 | 31 Poems for August 2017

I would’ve never been included in any of your pictures – you’d always find a way to crop me out.
I’ve had enough of this digital love, a love that’s constantly controlled by social media standards and faulty algorithms.
We made memories that not even Facebook can remember and captured moments that can’t be found on Instagram.
I would go back to being yours in a heartbeat just to hear the sound of my heart beat.
Just to hear my heart beating to the rhythms that are foreign to my existence.
Everyone knows that I’m a lover without a lover but never loveless.
I’m a heartbroken lover that’s wondering how to fix my heart’s mess.
I want to go back to the day when we first fell in love with one another.
I pray that there’s a chance that we’ll both manage to work it out someday.
I pray that all my doubts, fears and insecurities don’t ever prey on me.
As of late, our conversations are starting to feel a lot more like interviews.
Dive into the depths of my heart and mind and get a glimpse of my inner views.

11 | 31 Poems for August 2017

For some odd reason, I am still sitting here in my bedroom writing about you.
Your heartbeat reminds me of the timeless tune of my favourite melody.
Loving you is like looking at a shattered mirror, and clearly seeing every bit of the broken reflection.
The wind said something about you today, something that blew me away.
I cannot remember any of the words though because I was too busy thinking about you.
I’ve been thinking about you because every part of your existence is beautiful.
Your hazel-brown eyes are a beautiful reminder that God will not forget to look for me whenever I feel lost in the world.
I have spent countless hours memorising the curves of your smile and the lines on your skin.
Including the happiness and joy in the sound of your voice and all the beauty that lies within.
For some odd reason, I am still sitting here in my bedroom writing about you.
How do I write something so beautiful that’s bound to blow you away without having it sound like another poetic cliché?
Loving you is like looking at a shattered mirror, and clearly seeing every bit of my broken reflection.
My words will continue embracing all that I have discovered in myself because of you.
Within your sporadic bursts of laughter, I always find the freedom I had lost.
I will continue writing about you in ink, so that my notepad can finally feel the permanence of your presence in my poetry.
The spaces between my words will always be your place of refuge.
My poetry will continue writing about all that I have discovered in myself because of you.
I will continue to sit here in my bedroom and effortlessly write about you.
The world may read the pages of my soul, but my poetry will always belong to you.

10 | 31 Poems for August 2017

I could feel the love and not the distance.
I don’t want to be reminiscing about you right now.
You burn me again like my favourite bottle of Irish whiskey.
These wounds leave blood stains on my white canvas sneakers.
You could feel the distance and not the love – that’s the difference.
Everything is complicated and my feelings are hardly reciprocated.
Why should I try to win you over again when I know that I’ve lost anyway?
But the truth is, it wasn’t even about winning; maybe I overlooked several warning signs in the beginning.
Bullets pierced through my body as you slowly stole my soul away from me.
Before I left you alone, I placed an infinite number of kisses on your collarbone.
Heartbreak has taught me that it’s best to back away and leave love alone.
However, I still want to read all the love letters your hands are yet to write so effortlessly on my skin.
I knew that someday my love wouldn’t be good enough for you and that somehow, you’d find a way to disappear.
I could feel the love and not the distance, and maybe that’s one of the reasons why I still need you here.