I AM SOLD
I AM SOLD Poetry in Black and White
MQO DA POET
CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE Africa—My Place in this World .............................. 11 Beginnings ............................................................................... 13 Not Without My Dream ........................................................... 16 Africa Rise, Africa Shine! ......................................................... 18 Hope Never Dropped ............................................................... 20 She Could Have Done Better .................................................. 22 When I Landed ........................................................................ 24 CHAPTER TWO Where My Treasures Are ....................................... 27 I Am Sold ................................................................................. 29 Without You Lord ...................................................................... 31 The Lord Heard My Cry ........................................................... 33 The Law Written Rock.............................................................. 34 Thanking The Enemy ............................................................... 36 Common Ground ..................................................................... 37 Your Provision is in the Net ...................................................... 40 Count Your Blessings .............................................................. 42 Arise ....................................................................................... 44 Power of Prayer ...................................................................... 47 Fear Not ................................................................................... 50 Don’t Steal My Dream.............................................................. 53 The Broken Spell ..................................................................... 54 I’m In It For Love ...................................................................... 58 CHAPTER THREE Love’s Awakening .............................................. 61 A Day to Remember ............................................................... 63 Love is You ............................................................................... 65 Trillion Reasons ....................................................................... 68 Rain and Diamonds ................................................................. 72 Love is Together ....................................................................... 75 Even When You Are Far ........................................................... 77 With You I Wanna Be ............................................................... 79
You Give Me Hope .................................................................. 81 The Way We Should Flow ....................................................... 83 Blinding Realisation ................................................................ 85 Frozen by Your Beauty ............................................................ 86 Our Rhyming Love .................................................................. 87 CHAPTER FOUR Freedom Writing .................................................. 89 My Everlasting Heroes ............................................................ 91 Steps Away From Robben Island............................................. 93 Hear My Cry ........................................................................... 95 Taught to Fight ......................................................................... 98 Choosing Peace .................................................................... 100 The Pursuit of Peace ............................................................ 102 I Will Be Here ......................................................................... 105 I am an African ...................................................................... 106 CHAPTER FIVE Sons of the Soil .................................................... 109 Deliberately Starting Fire ....................................................... 111 Tears of a Man ...................................................................... 113 Men Hate the Middle of the Intersection ................................ 116 Roadblocks ............................................................................ 119 Man of Armour ....................................................................... 121 CHAPTER SIX a Purpose Driven Life ........................................... 123 Follow Your Heart ................................................................... 125 A Book I Never Read ............................................................ 127 Purpose Driven Lives............................................................. 129 Reaching New Heights .......................................................... 131 The Power of Having a Vision ................................................ 133 Aspire to Inspire Before You Expire ....................................... 136 Steps to Success .................................................................. 139 Graduation Day ...................................................................... 141
“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is a painting that is felt rather than seen�. Leonardo da Vinci
DEDICATION This book is dedicated to different special people in my life. For uMama noBaba (my parents), who guided me and motivated me to do the best in all that I do. For my lovely fiance, Katie Blundy, who believes in me in everything I do, who makes it her duty that I have a smile on my face and who loves me abundantly. For my young brother Mnqobi, who always looks up to me and who trusts me to be his mentor and who values my opinions with love.
CHAPTER ONE Africa—My Place in this World Stories from home, where life began and the place that formed me. Discovering the world through African eyes.
I AM SOLD
BEGINNINGS I come from the Valley of a Thousand Hills I come from the second largest continent both in magnitude and population in the whole world I come from the world that fought until world war two and left us for number three Number three is no longer physical but spiritual; for thee who created this day says He is light My beginning is where my roots are My roots are where my fruits come from My fruits are where my life is. I come from the place where loyalty lies— That’s how I realised how to overcome poverty I believe in supporting those who cannot support themselves— I have a heart to share my property Everybody needs a proper house, food to eat and someone to provide security. My parents had cattle that we looked after when we came home from school Most of my friends were doing it too—so we thought it was cool Everybody who didn’t do it was uncool We played so many games in the cattle field; we named so many names And believed we were born to rule Singing was one of the things we did, and dancing was one of the things everybody was proud of Swimming was one of the things we did and winning was one of the things that gave us confidence Our School Principal called me the Principal, because I owned the first position in class. This is my story and I will tell it the way it is. 13
MQO DA POET
Who I am is the result of where I come from and the catalyst of where I’m going When I grew up I was self-motivated and nobody could take that away from me I had the good life; I was raised by both of my married parents who supported me When I grew up I realised that there are so many kids that never had the privilege that I had And I also realised that even those who did, didn’t make it to live the next day and that made me sad. There are lots of things I went through when I grew up, I could write a book from primary school, As I look back I see so many events and diverse activities, to me that was the reality of life So instead of writing a book I wrote poems of events, and drew pictures of how I pictured my life I remember drawing a picture of my family, house, car—I almost lived my future in my past. I used to draw and write about what I saw around me including nature Students and teachers who saw my work thought I should be a professional writer, they told me that I was very talented You see in my culture it is normal to dream big, but all the dreams used to be similar; doctor, lawyer, engineer, teacher and so on But when I grew up I realised that I didn’t have to be all that, that I can be something else Due to our parents’ influence, we never were exposed to other careers cause we were already influenced by their wishes, limited by their security Throughout high school I carried my confidence and lots of people saw the dynamic leadership skills I possessed. I will never trade my mind for an engineer’s I will never trade my mind for a politician’s, physician’s or an electrician’s The world is dismantled and then reassembled, you and I only need to endure the process 14
I AM SOLD
Through the lens of a pen and verse, it is a matter of time before life makes more sense in this universe I have lost myself in books; they were so many so they left me confused And then found myself in words; they spoke life as I paid attention to detail. Living in a world without imagination, is living in a body without a soul, Without hesitating, I can think of no fate that is worse. With my passion for people’s success, I’ve walked through the lives of individuals I went to places and saw so many faces, whose eyes I’ve never known I’ve been to cities and villages and country-sides, whose skies, to me, have never been shown I couldn’t sit down and rest while people suffered; it was in this solitary cell that my greatest strength was honed. I realised that my mind was just a shell, but I wouldn’t let my people live life like hell I saw that my mind is simply a shell; it’s an abyss, simply a hole Every story has its place, and every glory is triggered by works Every story has it place, and history never ends The writer is an architect; God’s child at play The writer is a fighter; fighting for what’s right The writer is telling untold stories for those who couldn’t tell them The writer is an author of the voiceless voices— Creative minds and saints that never said a word to hurt others. My beginning is where my roots are My roots are where my fruits come from My fruits are where my life is.
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