I'm Not My Skin Part 1 (Teine Inkanda Yandi)

 "I don't mean to offend anyone with this poem."

I’m not my skin

I’m not your expectations,

I’m the soul that lives within,

I’m that which the blind can see

And all that you can’t see.

I’m the little boy confused

By the world’s segregation,

I’m the laugh of their talk,

I’m not trying to be you,

Look at my stiff black hair?

It stands tall like trees in the forest:

It feels so pure and sets me free.

Look at my thoughts, they are diverse

And full of colors.

I’m not my skin

I’m not who you think I am,

I’m the river that flows and blesses

Every oasis with a touch of water.

I’m the man who sees no color.

Touch my tan skin

And you’ll see that I’m human too.

I’m not trying to gain approval from you,

I just want you to know that I’m not my skin.

My culture is scarred by the human traitors,

I owe no forgiveness to any man alive…

Does the way I walk, smile or wear my afro

Make me any less human?

Should I be ashamed of my own skin?

I’m not my hair,

I’m the soul that lives within,

Poverty, disease, loss of human dignity

Are my arch enemies besides man.

Your broken kisses heal my human body,

Your spite for a person of my kind

Cannot break or shake to take me away into any

Sort of mortal shame for the skin that covers my

Bones and muscles.

My heart beats rhythmically like a Zambian drum,

My broad nose inhales the air my ancestors left,

My eyes see the moon, sun and the stars

That my Bantu forefathers

Worshiped and sacrificed lives for…

And this is who I’ll always be.

I’m not my skin,

I’m the simple person you’ll never know,

I’m the culture will never touch,

I’m the proud onyx soul you’ll never kiss.

I’m that little girl on mother’s back

Who she carried whenever

She went begging on the street,

I’m that lost lone needle in the hay.

But you can only see my russet skin..

In me you can only see a slave,

A second class human!

I’ll continue to walk tall like the beautiful

African queen my mother told me I’m.

I’m not my skin,

Like you, I’m not perfect, I react when I don’t mean to.

To kill me, take away my skin

And throw it beyond my children’s reach.

My black skin rages your emotions…

Your lust for another killing of my kind

Fuels every breath you take.

Here’s a knife tear my skin apart?

You’ll see that the blood I hold is scarlet…

Like a human’s or any other animal’s.

When my heart is broken I cry just like you do,

To you good skin means bright and not black.

The sun can’t hurt me I tamed her,

The night’s creatures can’t see me

Because my skin camouflages my soul.

Your bitter words can’t hurt me, I hate them not you.

An Ingress To Death Lurks

Twinkling eyes of a lost boy

Stare fiercely in the dark,

Like a shadow of the night

He silently craws

To the depth of fear, the only mother

He has ever known.

The tears in his eyes are the consequence

Of his ghastly fate…

Each day his virtuousness is slain before

The ogling souls.

Like a trapped soul he remains tormented

By the thoughts of the sun he never saw,

His sorrow takes a human voice

His soul wastes away as

They watch his void grow.

Sun dries his tears as he looks to

The same sky we all lay under,

The lantern lite streets

He calls home bare a cheerless

Fate that sees him day by day.

Arising from his sinister destiny

A rose he holds cuts his skin,

The truth cleaves to burn his face again,

“Cry no more my child,

Bleed not in vain.”

His slit wrists lead him

To a domicile where

He hurts no more.

She Walks And I Look

When she walks by,
She makes my day.
A mayday alert rings
Whenever she walks by.
She walks and I look.

She swirls like a an ocean's wave,
And I admire every little bit of her.
My eyes met hers, I melt with shyness.
Her sublime beauty echoes for my touch,
The hue of her lips beg for my kiss…
She walks And I look.

Beauty meets eyes as she walks,
Light she brings as she walks,
A new life in me she gives as she walks,
Trees whisper her name as she walks,
She’s the talk of the men when she walks,
Their eyes are magnetized at her sight…
Flamboyantly she walks and I look too.

Glowing eyes of the night watchers
Light her pathway as she walks,
She is their princess.
A priceless sight of splendor she is,
She wears as bright as day
Her eyes as dark as night verbalize
My inner reflections…
She sleeps and I look.

Golden footprints she leaves,
Lead down my soul,
Through my mind
And straight to my heart.
I must follow them!
She strolls down the valley of
My lust, I look and she does too.
We both smile and walk away…
Tomorrow she’ll walk my way
And I’ll look at her again.

This piece was inspired by Maya's 'Phenomenal Woman'.

I’m Not My Skin Part 2 (Nshili Inkanda Yandi)

Black or white it doesn’t matter anymore,

Because it never did.

Pitch black afros rise to kiss this unworthy

Feeling of not being part of this race,

What they say won’t scar us!

But who are they?

They are us and we are them

And together we are one but only

Separated by our selfish desires.

A day will come when we will toil

To save this home that we’ve destroyed…

We will embrace the humanity in us.

You can hate me but not because of the

Tone of my skin or the way I speak

My western tongue.

Hate me for a reason, because I will not

Hurt and hate you in return; its not in my nature.

One day I hope we will hold hands

And make a truce to live and love each

Other just the way God wants.

Sashay Swiftly

On the shores of wrong and right

 She glides to bring me mirth,

Amid her madness she smiles

And kisses me with her spackle of light...

She is my passion.

Her luscious scent I breathe,

Like a wave she sways my ghoul.

To embrace her soul is to live like king.

Solemnly a wrath sees her to her sleep as

Tears eternally smear onyx oaks

Of untold pleasures.

Her warm clouds cover me

Every day she lives in me,

Glowing in the dark a

Fortress of bliss she brings.

A sparkle of hope reigns and gives

Birth to our passion,

Blame me not for

Her broken wings guide me home.

A Love Lullaby (Tanka)

Slumber softly love,

Rest your sorrow in my heart,

Breathe gently in sleep.

Gaze in your soul forever

And sleep in my arms tonight.

Virgin Love (Haiku)

Together we lay,

Earth so warm her love so deep,

Lusty whispers reign.

A hushed reality

Swings from dusk till dawn falls,

A warm grace she is.

Succulent odor,

Kisses with glory I shiver

And tremble in love.

Utter glee she brings,

I snuffle like rain on soil.

My big heart she keeps.

Eyes as dark as coal

Cleanse our souls with olive oil,

At last we make love.

The Little Devil In Me

Again I wake up away from home

Like a lost soul I shriek for reality

To undo this obvious confusion,

I walk on a street paved with skulls and bones,

The road is covered by a steady flow of blood

Amid flesh and skin.

”Who did this?”

The little voice in me questions.

The crimson rain, the pain only gains more

Affliction to my already dented soul,

Now I sit with my head on the railway line

Waiting for the beast that craws there to come and steal

This mistake for a life I hate to live.

Another heart bleeds, another mother moans,

Another day of sheer destruction befalls us.

How did I become this…this unfeeling animal?

Somewhere in this human shell,

I find myself lost deep inside me.

At night, the little voice in me tells me to take lives:

To separate body and soul of they that are pure at

Heart, she tells me to kill again and again.

I now know why I wake up with blood in my hands.

Kissing Butterflies (50 Verse Tanka)

An opulent splice
Touch Skin with gentle temper,
Her Sultry kiss enthralls me,
Timeless moment to cherish
And dazzling feelings charm.

A tender bleach
Reaches soul with high passion,
Lost with joy I am
Beyond the warm words you speak
And sweet life you love to live.

Slender gleaming eyes
Pierce through my soul like daylight
Kissed by hues of charm.
Swanking with majesty, I rise up
And kiss her love-filled spirit.

Brisk soggy splashes
Touch lips with satisfaction,
Amid us is love,
An aroma of sheer love
Brings forth frosty emotions.

A stairway to bliss
Unwraps to witness our fervor,
A luring flame pours
Sweet hues of sheer elegance
And pure serene desires.

Our walk on love soothes
Yet stings solitude of yore.
Time yields elation,
Brings lustful deep loyalty
And softly heals the past sores.

A flawless Timing:
Her succulent lips touch mine,
With eyes closed we kiss
It feels like never before;
Body and mind meets splendor.

Her warmth reveals that
Heaven is just a feeling,
Somewhere in life the
Moonshine reveals our child,
With hands open we embrace.

Whilst touching beauty,
Love and immortality;
The things that we feared
Are realized through our seeds.
At last we are now complete.

A sweet silent breeze
Gracefully harmonizes our passion.
We gaze at the stars
And fall deep in love once more,
So bare, so pure we are one.

With beautiful lullabies
She sleeps and vows to wake up,
Her auburn eyes close
Like a butterfly’s wings.
Her whispering snarls I love.

Together we fly
And sing like songbirds,
In sunshine we are
In love now more than ever,
Surely this must be a fantasy.

Her Joyful tears fall
With a force of affection,
She makes me cry too…
My tears dry on her soft skin
And for this I love her too.

A queen of beauty
She is, my heart beats for her,
She sparkles like stars,
Oh she redefines beauty
Like proven philosophies!

A deep morning sleep
Of inclusive completion
Brings causes to live
Gives life a much stronger taste
Than one without devotion.

With me, still she cries,
I cry, together we cry
Beneath our hearts
Like children seeking mother.
The night is long but pleasant.

A tongue trail of thoughts,
Eats time till infinity,
Our love so warm
I must kiss her yet again
Before she lies down to sleep.

Soaked in emotions,
Our high passion breathes love
And yearns for a kiss
To come tame my tender lips.
Will she ever come to me?

Her gentle cloud soon
Drown me in life’s essence,
I cling to her heart
Like a child born to mother.
I delve her rinse heart with joy.

A sweet passion scent
Steals the day’s whiff away,
Sun touches skin
Her lips so bare seduce me
Whenever we touch pure love.

Lustful thoughts I sought
Thrill me like a voodoo charm
Ready to ignite
Its wrath in me all at once.
At last we breathe, now we live.

The sun brings its joy,
Before dawn I will kiss her
And together we
Shall live to love forever,
Each day will be a blessing.

Our dry briny lips meet
Unsullied splendor of hearts.
A feel of life’s touch
Confirms that this must be true
And we must not let go now.

Flaming emotions
Pierce hearts with lavish love fumes,
Washed with mortal bliss
A love bite seats on her heart
And plays a seductive tune.

The taste of her soul
Brings an endless fulfillment
As she calms me down,
An ocean of sentiments
Strokes with a ceaseless ardor

Beautiful thoughts:
Captivate without any warning.
Like fire it was
Beyond electrifying.
I drown in love again.

Our kiss so soft
That it melts me completely,
My soul it touches
With myriads of pleasures.
At last love lures me to sleep.

A deep pillow talk
Transforms into ecstasy,
We kiss yet again
And feel our luring glee
Of everlasting emotions.

kissing beneath lilies
Of our deep devotion,
Love strikes with silence,
Through the sweet truth of union
We tap life’s lone essence.

Where the sun slumbers
We sleep and eat passion food,
Gracefully we chant
The intimate rhymes we make
While we doze off like newly-borns.

A sleek touch of lips
Exalts thou sensual lust
And resurrects fine lost remnants.
Me for her and her for me,
I wish she dreams only me.

The yellow sunlight
Blesses us with tenderness,
It cleanses us in its warmth.
Sparkling morning dew decoys
Us to kiss for forever.

As rose petals fall,
Sugary lavish fragrance engrosses
To perfect daytime,
Splendor it reveals…
Like a daydream it is chaste.

A zephyr blows us
Gently to a calm love shore.
Sweet sea aroma
Engulfs our hearts with its beauty,
Again we are left Speechless.

Her salty ripe lips
Get closer and I tremble
With high desires to touch
Our endless lust to love
Like in the trance of my sleep.

Beautiful brims:
I cannot resist to savor,
They are addictive.
Our emotions so deep
Jingle like swinging church bells.

Amid this madness
We kiss this divine kindness
That our hearts hold.
The aroma of her skin
Groans for a sodden last kiss.

With eyes drenched in tears
Love approaches with a kiss.
A candle lite night
Steadily stirs the shyness
We cling to in the daytime.

Our spirits rise
Whenever we explore love
And thaw in passion,
Life so sweet we must not miss
To kiss again and again.

A blue lightning strikes
Once, twice and forever more,
It seals us with love.
Her soft touch heals me again,
She is my only night wish.

Whispers in the trees
Tell a tale of our love,
We douse in beauty.
Azure butterflies fly low
And sit on emerald leaves.

Succulent lips
Seduce me yet again,
Hues of our love
Flush the night with warmth
And brings a charming morning.

A ceaseless fine kiss
Softens our tears of love.
It’s pure intensions
Liquefies us into bliss
Beneath it all, we breathe.

Time moves so slowly
As we kiss on the terrain
Of our dwelling.
Euphoric with spruce vibes
Our hearts sink deep in love.

Sweet nighttime perfume
Soothes with its ensnaring tang.
Our emotions
Speak the silence of hearts
Like wind it lives quietly.

She smiles like the moon
As passion’s crest fill us
With the joy of day.
We wonder under this sleep
How we became this one soul.

A close encounter
Arouses our shaky lips.
Words we cannot speak
Are turned into emotions
Now we wolf woolly feelings

Sweet honey drips down
And meet our lusty tongues,
It reveals heaven.
Falling like rain on dry earth
We plunge down the love’s lane.

Grandeur is now felt
Like sun on skin it warms us,
Long kisses enchant
Like bees sucking sweet nectar,
I lose me and so does she.

Like flying we are
Fearless of our union.
Strawberry kisses
Are all that we desire,
In the nighttime we shall kiss.

Innate Therapy (Haiku)

Olive leaves so pure 

They must be a cure - -

For this cancer.

Flawless chilly air

Rises to thaw this sickness - -

Healing breathes thrill me.

A pounce of splendor

Surprises with emotions,

I soak in this treat.

Last Night’s Glee (Haiku)

Mid summer fine wine
Tastes as sweet as fine honey
Like your juicy lips.

Your eyes like diamonds
Spackle like stars in the sky
Excitement they bring.

Beneath the moonshine
We shined with the night’s glee,
We touched affection .

A splendid sunset
Shades its beams in the ocean
Where our eyes rest.

Evening's Delight (Haiku)

Golden horizon--

Spurs fine summer thoughts again,

I soften in it.

Killing Angels

Crimson splashes reign,

She never had a chance

To embrace mercy,

Tonight darkness will take her

Down to the valley of her fear.

Her plea echoes in vain

Her plain veil steals her

Away in pain again,

A look to the sinister sky offers

More affliction…

Her ruptured heart doesn’t

Beat like it did…

The unfeeling life finds a way to

Kill her once more,

He revives her sore’s dark wrap

Her eyes can’t see the pain,

A love of make believe he gives.

Her beauty is tainted but not lost

Like a leaf lost in the wilderness

She cries and bleeds but realizes

That beauty can’t be hurt,

In the night she sleeps not

She contemplates ending it all

Torn between his lies she loses

Grace and falls asleep behind his spector.

Shes hurting...

She doesn't know that her beauty cannot

Be blemished by a human hand.

In vain she weeps and soaks her eyes

In the blood of her lover's hand.

A soul touched by love yearns for

Death to wake her up when this life is over.