Dreams

Hold on to your dreams
Hold on tight
Because with morning
Comes the light
That fights
To rip them off your hands

Daddy's arms

Moments with you
Engraved in our hearts
Relived in your smile
Your eyes forever
Beaming with love
You are getting big
But will never outgrow
Daddy's arms

Noise-The Ultimate Exhibition

On the 2nd of Feb 2013 I had the honor and privilege of attending Lehlogonolo Mashaba's exhibition at Artspace Jhb. It was awe inspiring and so emotionally charged. The pieces came alive in that gallery. The exhibition runs until the 2nd of March2013 at Artspace, 142 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood. Do yourself a favor and go check it out. Well done Hlogi!!

Me and Lehlohonola grew up together in the township streets of Kwa-Thema in the East Rand. Sharing dreams and the love for art and music.It is so inspiring to see he never gave up The Dream. Through hard work and dedication anything is possible. Respect!!

This is how the experts described his exhibition "Engaging with information culture, Mashaba assimilates the ambiguous presence of found text into primal human forms. The laboursome process of cutting relief prints, re-cut on paper and re-assembled, draws attention to hand made processes and the strength and frailty of the human body faced by digital technology"

And this is how I saw it

Noise-The Ultimate Exhibition

A noise so loud
It felt silent
Each pen stroke
Alive with energy
Broken links
Attached by gentle strokes
Commanding attention
Demanding to be seen
but most of all, heard

The pieces held my hand
As I walked in
They spoke to me
And told me their story
Of how sometimes
You need to breakdown
                          To rebuild
You need to deconstruct
To construct
And make noise
          To be heard

The story(The day after The night before)

The day after the Friday night
I think it was a Tuesday afternoon
I had curled myself up in a blanket
On top of a soiled mattress in the corner of a room
Hiding my shame in folded arms
My dignity left with the weight I shed
I shared my spirit with the devil
And he was done with me
                                            For now
Still in a daze,asked to vacate the premises
Because my funds were now insufficient
Not enough to warrant my stay
The money I spent meant nothing now
Because I didn't have anymore
No more smiles or calling me "Mr"
All I heard was "my friend,you have to go now"

I was half the man I was
When I walked in
T-shirt sagging
Pants falling
Even when the belt is adjusted
To the last possible hole
Lips dry and burnt
Hands dirty
Vision blurry
I could barely drive

The sun shined too bright that day
Intent on exposing the sins I committed
And tried to hide by playing cool
While inside I felt naked
Like everybody I passed on the roads
Can see what I had done
I was a couple of blocks from home
But it felt like I was miles away

The story

It was one of those Friday night's
That turn into Sunday mornings
When you are awoken by the strong stench
Of last night's beer
The darkness thick
And promising to conceal
All done under its cover
The star's twinkle
Was particularly dim tonight
The moonlight
Seem to only shine
On the evil that lurked
Like wolves waiting
To pounce on any dream
That dared rear its head
Wolves in sheeps clothes
Promising an unforgettable night
For just R50
Neatly packaged in a small plastic
To stop the "fun" from escaping
They don't tell you
That its only fun once
And the rest of the time
You will spend chasing it
R50 after R50after R50
And it will always stay one step ahead of you
And everytime you think you about to get it
It will elude you
And the more you chase it
The further away it becomes
Yet the wolves keep this false hope alive
Trading a packet for a dream
R50 is the retail price for your soul
And on this particular night
My spirit was up for sale
With me as the agent
My commission in a plastic bag...

Beautiful,Inside

Someone lied to her
Told her poets are in demand
So she started buildings walls
Around hers with status updates
And peeing on every corner
Of his virtual world
To fend off groupies
And mark her territory
Litlle did she know
Groupies are for mindless jerks
That sing RNB
Whose abs have more talent
Than they will ever have
For poets
There are no red carpets
Rolled out
Our only fans, other poets
And 'ugly' chicks
Rocking natural fro's
Who have more brain
Than 'looks'
Beautiful
Inside

Cyber crush/ed

I stalked her facebook profile
"Liked" her status updates
Hanged on her every word
Her thoughts my noose
Drooled all over her pictures
Retweeted her tweets
DM'ed compliments
To get her attention
Tagged her on my posts
Mentioned her on my tweets

Ran into her at the shops
The other day
We looked straight at each other
She leaned forward to embrace
I opened my arms
In shock
She pulled back
And was like
"Sorry man,
Can you pass me
The 2litre coke behind you"
Cleared my throat
And passed
Realising she doesn't know me
I went to buy bread
But came back
With a broken heart

Sixteen

Sixteen by Lesley 'Les- T' Masenya on SoundCloud

Sixteen

She was sixteen
When she was laid to rest
Her body finally at peace
And free

It wasn't the rope
Around her neck that killed her
Or the razor blade
She used to cut her wrists with
Or the sedatives
She took most nights
To numb the pain

She was just sixteen
When she was laid to rest
Her body finally at peace
and free

It wasn't her reckless lifestyle
Or her thug boyfriend
That killed her
It wasn't the drugs they used
Or the booze they drank
It wasn't
The friends she kept

She was just sixteen
When she was laid to rest
Her body finally at peace
And free

It wasn't her step dad's
Beer belly that killed her
As he held her down
Or his hands over her mouth
That suffocated her
As he tries to muffle her cries

She was just sixteen
When she was laid to rest
Her body finally at peace
And free

She was used to the pain
The razor helped her feel again
The high shut off this horrible movie
That she lived
And that played over and over again
Everytime it was silent
Walked around with headphones
To drown her own screams

She was only sixteen
When she was laid to rest
Her body finally at peace
And free

It wasn't the abuse that killed her
It was the stabbing stares
And finger pointing at school
It was the whispering
Then sudden silence
When she walked past
It was the images taken
Along with her innocence
When she was just four
That some kids found
And were passing them around
Like free mixtapes
With every download
Every file shared
She was stabbed
And ripped apart
Images of her
Being violated
Scattered on facebook
For all to see
Sent from one phone to the next
Killed by a society
Who wouldn't let her
Stop being a victim

She was just sixteen
When she was laid to rest
Her body finally at peace
And free

To Thando

The light you shine
On this grim
Dark corner
That's moist with lies
And this strong stench
Of filthy secrets in the air
Lays it all out bare
And cannot be swallowed
By the darkness of silence
This light
That's so true
I see it too