a-poem-a-day-challenge

I am my own by Louis-francois Smit

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:51:14 +0100

So many years

That has passed

But look

I am still my own

So many sacrifices

So many deaths

So many lost dreams

Just to see my independence

I will always remember

I will always show pride

I will always be thankful

To the brave ones that fought

I will always be thankful

Because of you brave ones

I have my own name

And my own borders

Day 4 | Years after independence

Slaves of the world by Louis-francois Smit

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:43:48 +0100

Slavery has not been abolished

Slavery is not gone

Slavery is not dead

Slavery has changed

Our masters don't have to feed us

Our masters don't have to provide shelter for us

With this new slavery

We feed ourselves

We provide our own shelter

Are we truly free?

Or do our masters shove that word down our throats everyday

Until we believe it?

How can we not be slaves?

If we have to work ourselves to death

Just to cover

The cost of living

Day 3 | Free at last

June | Days 3 & 4 writing prompts

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:49:51 +0100

Day 3 Writing Prompt

"Free at Last"

(Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States honoring African American heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865 - )

Day 4 Writing Prompt

"Years After Independence"

(Madaraka Day, 1 June, commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule in 1963, preceding full independence from the United Kingdom on 12 December 1963. - http://www.the-star.co.ke/lifestyle/128-lifestyle/78367-what-madaraka-day-means-to-kenyans)

I have life by Morula Wa Kutukgolo

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:30:43 +0100

Now that I have the giver of life

I can trully say I am alive.

Now that I have the giver of love

I can trully say I am loved.

Now that I have the giver of peace

I can trully say I am peaceful.

Now that I have the one called wonderful

I can trully say I am wonderful.

Now that I have the one called comforter

I can trully say I am comforted.

Now that I have Jesus

I can trully say I have life,

Heartbeat by Saurell Boyers

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:16:56 +0100

She said to me

I cannot teach you to be free

But this is freedom to me

Feel your heartbeat

A rhythm all its own

Setting a tone

The desire to be free

Is like that heartbeat

In every soul and mind

Some follow their heart

Others are left behind

Yet freedom has a price

Etched in courage, sweat,blood

To deliver responsibility

So tell me

Do you want to be free?

short bio: A writer on a path of discovery

Life not lived by Louis-francois Smit

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:14:57 +0100

Life is nothing

If there are no risks

Life is worthless

If fear guides your heart

Life is meaningless

If there is no love

Life is shallow

If you doubt in your heart

Take the risk

Send fear to hell

Love everyone and thing

Never doubt your heart

Because

How can you be alive?

If,

You don’t truly live.

short bio: My soul is free when I'm writing. I'm not saying that I'm good at it. But I really do enjoy the feeling of placing my thoughts on paper. I am at my most honest when I'm writing and that's the most important part for me.

June | Day 2 Writing Prompt

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:12:21 +0100

"What is life if I don't live"

(in Eritrea, June 20 has been set and declared national holiday - Martyr Day - for one and the sole purpose of respecting and paying tribute to all those who paid the ultimate price, life, in the great 30-year war. more here - http://www.eritreadaily.net/News0307/article0607191.htm)

silence the monuments by Be NYamezele

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:09:28 +0100

we'd scream and rebel as blood flooded our minds

and young girls would hide in shame as reality seethed from their cores.

bitumen memorised grief

and the buildings that protrude these city streets recorded

every secret desecrated through shameful whispers.

when I was young

prayers were all we were taught to unclench our fists for.

"lord forgive us for the sins of our emasculated fathers".

we regretted the residue of innocence

and now mirrors call us hypocrits for we've Become the Beasts that rage against age.

Bring back time...

Fortress by Saurell Boyers

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:06:11 +0100

As I child I would not sleep

Till I was able to complete

The painstaking nightly task

Building a fortress around my bed

Teddy bears and dolls stand guard

Against monsters and trolls

Now I'm grown but cannot let go

Of this propensity for building walls

Secure , invisible , impenetrable

Around my heart and soul

To protect from the all too real pain

Of heartbreaks and disappointment

At times I long to let down the barricade

But fear and past experiences prevail

So I patch my fortress walls to safely hide

Yet all the while longing, trying

For something , anything

That can only be reached by breaking them

short bio: A journeyer on my own path

Child grown up by Louis-francois Smit

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:38:32 +0100

When I was small

I forced myself to grow up

To be able

To survive the grown ups

A child’s dreams and visions

Perspectives and views

All thrown away

Because grown ups like things their own way

Children know so little

That’s why they love so easy

Grown ups know too much

That’s why they’re scared to love

I am now a grown up

But how I long

And crave

To be a child, once more

short bio: Writing poetry forces me to be honest with myself. It frees my soul and saves my spirit.