Khumo Mhlanga

In outstretched hands,
Soul-salving utterances
Sunlight breaking through lips
Heart caresses
...

Storm-weathered heart
Marooned
Alone
Can the shining knight make it this far?
...

Self-righteousness…
The fallen on pedestals
Wolves squeezing into sheep’s clothing
That doesn’t morph you –
...

Diamond-canopied
Blood running gold
Crude wealth
Emancipated hands not ready
...

I wanted to be her -
She was living my dream
The life you promised me...the love that was mine
...

My mind
A puppy trying to catch its tail...
Circles of confusion & indecision
A second try
...

If I TRY to love you
You'll only be held back from one who can
A warm pool of comfort for your needs...
...

Trial
Loving you feels like -
Interrogation of my heart.
Cross-examined in the fire
...

I wish I had known...
You read 'vacant'
True intentions veiled
...

Christmas -
My release came...
Overwhelming peace at the prospect of a closed door.
A prayer whispered in silence,
...

Blinded…
Hearing life from a distance
Silence, your teary response
Eyes wide open
...

I want to hide in your heart
Swimming in the flow of your grace
Repeatedly drowning in everlasting life
Knowing no time or space
...

...

You're great in me
Your forgiveness my treasure.

I'm found in your torn flesh -
...

You defy supplication...
Repeated requests for my mind to be purged of you
Only fueling an increased yield of all things 'regal'
...

And so it is...
2000 year old secret
Revealed in the bruising of skin
A brutally barbaric coronation - clothed with humiliation
...

In love:
No longer the innocence of a favourite past-time

How some have perfected the 'art' of sleight of heart...
...

The dawning of devastation
Bewildered stares at questions of your location
Advise my mouth on how to unleash
The primal kaleidoscope of raw post-scab removal emotion -
...

Moth...flame
Passion, lust, fire...
Devoured
Old as time attraction
...

What can we make of this?
This rolling & tumbling into absolute nothing...
You wrap your arms around me - awed by aesthetic pleasance
But in the morning, when her call makes its way to you
...