Up late at night
A strange animal
That has lost its wings.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Tag: South Africa
What’s the currency of hurt?
If we could see the evidence
I promised I would not adorn it
Or put it in a jar or many jars
And then start comparing jars
And then selling jars of hurt.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
A Supernatural kiss
Suddenly you moved, you were kissing me
As though the earth were some other planet
Where the hormones had lost all composure
And the reason for that was in the beginning
I could not remember neither of our names
Nor could I tell that we were both human
Whether we had legs arms wings and tails
I could have fallen a billion kilometres up
I did not care that you had speech or song
I had one breath to sum up your deportment
And even forgot my eyes were there to see
We could have drowned at the ocean floors
Somehow I understood to preserve my form
So drenched in a lover’s design ahead of me
Dismissed that that was the love of all the time
I smiled in despair and warmth and glowing.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Mysterious attachments
Where do I push the hurt to
Where can I place it without it leaking
And stay there where I put it
Or will it travel back to its original place
What is its shape, size and colour
I promise I will not adorn it.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Cold feet
And so I have spoken too soon
Your pressures in the sunlight
Long weekends overexposed
Arctic water drops from your hair
A dark rock eclipsing the sea
You insist on what you know
How do I move a stranded whale
I think you must keep your place.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
The Bathroom mirror
Sometimes the day moulds me
Into features I do not recognise
A new day when at first glance
The morning has not touched me
And neither have I had a chance
To sculpt it with anxious hands
When loving you is so effortless
Not one of my secrets is original
I set loose a hundred possessions
And stand innocent in Nothing land
Nothing land she has everything
She knows well of eternal youth.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Happy unrandomly
When I see that it is all inevitable
Good and rotten interchangeable
Trip up switch beliefs insane intangible
All the humming room in between undeniable
And then my body warms uncerebral
A weight off my shoulders and mandible
Life is certainly unpredictable
I am no longer my own obstacle.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
A Human encounter
As though I am built of some other material
That neither you nor I can make out
Whether you are shapeshifting or maybe I
Beautiful warm burgundy animal blood
Humping thumping breathing organs
Fingerprint all my genes awake
Ancient codes in each and every cell
Popping flesh bubbles and children unborn
It’s my turn it’s my turn it’s my turn it’s mine
Survival in the love and war of the breeders
Horniness half hysterical on a cliff edge
Commanding a thousand valleys a thousand streams
Hot savage bliss in the climax to live on
Significant insignificance as we bow our heads
To surrender to such violence in rebirth.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
The First Nordic sun
Excuse me please
While I talk and sing in the shower
While I dance naked in the streets
While I swing from street lamp to street lamp
Pardon me please
While I unbutton my winter jacket
While I leave it on the pavement
While I surrender to the sun
Do forgive me please
While I giggle when I see you
While my heat and secrets meet
While I play the music louder
All apologies but
I can not hold my heart in
Thoughts alive in my tongue
My veins are laughing and speeding
Something unravels every moment
Because the Twin Peaks season is over
Am I this lucky up all night
Er det virkelig sant
Is it really true.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Global living
Not all the people on planet earth
Eat potatoes and pasta
This is no reason to panic
This is no reason to be mad.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Forgiveness
I scrub away your burden
Down the drain
Everything softens in the shower.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
The Orgy is over
Millions of oily eyeballs
Hypnotised by one swinging ball
Of such reckless proportion
In such a glamorous scene
As things become graver
Too terrible to remember
Nor could we close the greasy mouth
For she was much too high above grace
Until she saw herself begging for mercy
Upon meeting her haggard reflection
And stopped laughing abruptly
At the feet of the barbarians
Billions of muted screams
The earth howls from each corner the same noise
Victims with enough time to worry
Head bedsores for those who can afford them
Too heavy too hard too far
To begin at ones own feet
Put away that weapon of love
It is too soft for this kind of work
Where is your blood
Because horny will turn
Perfume will never disguise poverty
Love comes long after it has gone
That man showed us he was mad
These alarms can no longer be snoozed
The iceberg approaches
There is no formula
It won’t be found on Mars
Because love is right here.
(Poem in progress)
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Fear and loathing
A fat drying lizard
Rotting meat on a stone
Knotting my stomach every day
I want to walk this way
Past this brutal sight
Not to change it nor to fix it
I will never give it weight
And I will banish all superstition
That does not belong to me
Until days turn it into dust
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
Valentine’s day
House pets hear the hungry
Bent over double in despair
We can botox instead of cry
While condoms blind the undecided
Let’s take pictures of ourselves
As though death is not for us
Let’s raise our glasses to fake plastic love.
Copyright © Nomzi Kumalo, 2014.
