Not Your Ways Poem by Mazwi Sedibe

I loved you, but not your ways.
I stayed with you, but it wasn't always.
I clasped your hand in mine, but
I loathed the carnal works of your hand.
I loved you but not your ways, you won't comprehend.

I looked into your eyes with love,
But your haughty eye didn't display love.
I kissed warmly and deeply your putrid breath in the mornings,
Yet the sharp words of your tongue
Cut me up so badly like a careless surgeon.

I pleasured your company, but not your devious ways.
I stayed with you, but it wasn't for always.

Your ways were against me like I was against the cruel odds
I persevered your foul ways,
Like a saviour's bare back persevering the lashes of the merciless rods.
I cherished some moments with you, but
I do not for a second reminisce about your canny ways.

I laid with you not always.
I was intimate with you but not your contemptible ways.
I wanted to stay with you but it was not always.
I knew that one day we'll have to part ways.