Poem of the day brings you some of the best pieces of writing South Africa has to offer. Photo: Pexels

Poem of the day: This Isn’t Life

A poem a day keeps the soul awake! For the most soulful, authentically African poetry on the internet, check out Poem of the day.

by Obakeng Pholo

14-01-2023 06:21

in Art and Artists

Poem of the day brings you some of the best pieces of writing South Africa has to offer. Photo: Pexels

This Isn’t Life

In the middle of the cold night
I pray the dark my dreams to keep
For when I wake I fear my thoughts
Of my mistakes and my pride without sleep

The fool that I’ve quickly become
Haunts even my daily grind
It rips and tears but just appears
Out of the corner of my unreasonable mind

I’m scared and worried of what’s to come
When I can’t seem to even fall apart
To be involved enough in my own life
And reach a point where I break my heart

Daydreaming of what might have been
Had I kept the old me around
He’d wondered off into the sunset
Slow and steady he’s been purgatory bound

I remember the little drummer in my chest
Who would wake me at first light
Aching to see the world begin again
But the dawn since has not met his sight

That’s what I need to do
To find the person who made me, me
And be the party of one
Whole and alone but free

Like finding a whisper in the dark
I wouldn’t know where to start
To begin the quest that needs to end
Plug the leak and refill my emptying heart

Today my smile feels brand new
I feel like me again, but she could never be you

By Pravir Dass