RWAIVI
(Chameleon)
Actions of childhood continue until the present
Playground speech was conformed to the African
accents of friends
Acceptance was the goal
and it was achieved
Teenage was a time of searching
That question that everyone must answer
Who Am I
There were some in her life whom she resembled
But she could not claim to be "Coloured"
That was not her heritage
Self-acceptance was the goal
And it was achieved
It arises still, this need to fit in
But it is not borne of childhood anxieties
Now it's about being a part of
As many worlds as she can
Jive talkin', Hindi and midwest twang
Shona soul and all in co-existence
All of this belongs to Rwaivi
Blending in her as she was born into this world
---Blended---
AVOCADOS
A wise woman once said
A friend's somebody you judge for yourself.
I don't like the word judge.
I like decide.
A friend's someone who you speak to
Through your soul
Talk to for hours at a time.
Someone who you have a never-ending conversation with.
I've known you for a while and I like the person you are.
I appreciate your existence
I am grateful for the space you have in my life.
I hope you realise your importance to me.
I am only one person on this Earth
But you are loved by me.
I think that matters.
I tell you this from my heart with my arms open wide.
I am honest in saying that you've made your mark on my soul.
As long as I draw breath
As long as my soul revolves in this circle,
You Are Loved.
AVOCADOS version 2
Sister I ask you
Is it possible to save a life
Just by being yourself?
Tell me if you can,
Will a friend be your everyday salvation?
Sister I tell you
I tell it like I see it
A friend is somebody you
Decide for yourself.
A friend is a soul-talker.
Sister I tell you that you are
My Everyday Salvation
Just being in your presence
Brings baby ble calm to the
Pollack painting of my struggle.
Complication is madness and
I am sane
In the simplicity of me and you.
Sister I tell you this with my heart on my sleeve
And my arms open wide.
As long as I draw breath above the waves
As long as my soul revolves in this ocean
You are the rock that saved my life.
HOPE CHILD
I wrote this poem after one of those melancholy days when I find my inspiration angels visiting me. My angel this day was a boy in a Chinese restaurant eating with his mom and sister. The child was true life: love and simplicity. His tan face and curly hair was my own childhood looking back at me, and for that child who is nameless to me I dedicate this poem. I hope to thank him one day when he is a Hope Man.
Amidst fortune cookies
Lanterns and
Fried rice
I saw a child shining
This could could've been my brother
Could've been anyone's brother
The child was life personified
Because the child was hope.
Engaged with this fleeting vision
I hoped for the boy
That he may never be marred
by history or the cruelty of ignorance
That his winter tan would never mark him for ridicule or self-hatred.
As all children are, he was innocent
Of the world
Of its unfairness
But I hoped for the Hope Child
With his mixed badge of courage
His melange of beauty
I hoped that others could see him as I do
A child of the future
A Hope Child.