Maakomele Manaka

Maakomele Manaka Poems

Maakomele Manaka Biography

Maakomele R. Manaka is a Soweto born poet with a strong artistic heritage. Mak, as he is widely known, has published three collections of poetry; If Only, In Time and Flowers Of A Broken Smile, many of Manaka’s poems have been translated into Italian and German. His writings have appeared in lirerary journals and news papers around the country, Mail & Guardian, Aerodrome, New Coin, Botsotso, Kotaz, The Chronic and Poetry Potion. He also recorded a dub-poetry album titled, “Word Sound Power”. Manaka has been invited to perform his poetry at various literary festivals locally and abroad, from Soweto to Spain, Cuba, Jamaica, Lesotho, Botswana, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, and at the inauguration of former president Mr. Thabo Mbeki, he also performed for the late Mr. Nelson Mandela. He has been nominated for The Daimler Chrysler Poet Of The Year 2005 Award, and has represented South Africa at the closing ceremony of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Manaka runs creative writing classes in and arround South Africa, and he holds a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Rhodes University.)

The Best Poem Of Maakomele Manaka

Song For The Time

i know why you cannot sleep
you lay awake
watching your plans
wrestle the ceiling
with ears facing the night
breathing heavy on your feet

i have heard you ask for directions
from a yellow razor

i know you pray to exit
wounds that breed self hatred

but, I pray for you to listen
and free your laughter
from the cold whisper
of open veins
that steal your doors

i pray for you to exist
in the quiet sound
of the many rivers
inside your smile

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