May 25, 2024

by SIHLE NTULI

Kasala (for a first-born twin)

mfana ka Thandiwe, 

heir of Themba, 

your river of life  

so full of love  

all that hope towards you,

yet for some reason

you are still reluctant 

to take your final form as an ocean. 

descendant of Godide

Mphemba, Ndlela ka Sompisi,         

brother, 

your will is so intentional                 

foot stepping 

forming pathways 

tall grass sways from your wind 

while you pass by

the second born twin 

is so inclined

to blindly follow you 

even into the darkness of your cave 

sibonga oMwelase ka Ndlovu  

for soles of your two feet 

in rich dialogue with soil,

a long walk to find yourself 

bless will of ancestors

that brought you home 

after an absence you built 

from stonewalls 

we acknowledge the blood flowing within you 

as a compromise 

two lines merging 

into one     

bless Ntuli & Mwelase clans 

running inside of you,       

forging an heir 

so worthy 

of admiration & love  

so graciously 

received in abundance.  

*

COFFEE

“Life is such a gentle, treasured thing. I learn about it every minute. I think about it so deeply”                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                             — Bessie Head      

strong dark brown coffee bean / roasted, grounded, granulated 

stimulating nerves / leaning into life / leaving me restless enough 

to receive / sunrise with eyes wide open / here, my cup is empty. 

here, my blood flows free of caffeine / here, the stream is my open 

wound once profusely red / only now drying & on the verge of closing 

while attachment loosening its place / & i know that in this place of sorrow 

i cannot live forever/ but still, i cannot help it / hurt soul, i cannot move 

smothered in endless agitation / here, my motionless body is held 

by a mind weakened by a dream / unable to help myself other than 

to return deep inside the wound / because how much longer 

will i claim to have died / even though the morning scent of coffee 

reminds me / that i am the one / who has actively refused to live.    

*

BLOOD ORANGE

sun & your violence 

& those of us left to bask beneath you 

question whether we should still 

consider you glorious 

amid a troubling premonition 

of your loving warmth 

slowly eroding our bones. 

from a passion once known 

into one with a strong resemblance 

to fire            down to a weeping 

melancholia of teeth gnashing

skin seeks deliverance from your 

tenderness     your flaming ball ablaze 

that peaks the closer we get 

towards the end of summer 

we were always incompatible 

our union doomed from the entry 

a sharp sun   to the blunt sunset 

that found one of us on the verge of surrender 

the other embodying dusk hovering over  

with a cold     that we both will claim 

when we blame the other          

saying               we were left for dead.