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»Dear Death«

by Marcia Nonkululeko Tladi, October 10, 2006

Your promises ring sweet in my ears
You hold something that belongs to me
My happiness
I can hardly wait to meet you
I might have something you'd like too
In fact I know you will

Although I must say,
I have only heard bad things about you
You have no concept of time
Tending to arrive before you are expected
You lack appreciation for the human corpse
Quick to rob it of its beauty
I saw the news last night
And I wondered if you had
to shred that child's body that way

Although I must admit,
Even before what they said
I've always been afraid of you
I pictured you dark and ugly
Your voice, deep, hoarse and unkind
I planned to hide under my bed
Should you come knocking on my door
But then I learnt that, like madness
you don't knock

Dear Death
I have packed my bags
(never could travel light you know)
I thought that I might need warm clothes
In case my fears turn cold on me
I was cautious picking out my summer clothes
I don't know if the sun shines in those parts

I think I may be ready to go now

Where shall we meet though?
I was thinking at the bottom of that
37 floor sky-scraper in town
But the streets tend to be crowded at night
How about I pick you up in my car?
The N1 North has some beautiful rendevouz spots
The problem being one never knows
how jammed the traffic might be
You know it renders it impossible to do it then


I would ask you to steal me in the middle of the night
while I lie asleep on my bed
But that's not your style anymore is it
You were kinder to my ancestors
And I understand
It must have become boring for you

Dear Death
Give me a week
I will prepare myself for the pain
Then you can sink
your chiselled vulture-like claws
into the skin of my breast
Break the bars of the
cage that imprisons my heart
in all its pain
Use the very rib
To pierce my heart
Squirting its pain-harbouring blood
Into your ugly face

Watch my body as it convulses
And watch closely lest you miss it;
When my last breath escapes
We shall trade
Grab it and
Feed your voracious appetite
And give me my happiness
Just give me my happiness


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The © Copyright to this poem is owned by the author.
Published by writerslounge.net on October 10, 2006 under courtesy of the author.


Reader comments

"wow once I started reading I could not stop. says much from a lot of peoples thoughts."
Helen Botha, Dec 22, 2015
"no poem is ever perfect is it, riveting stuff... so many can relate, yet so few dare write it. where will we meet Mr Death, or shall we escape through the rapture?"
Kunalati Matthew Mokoena, Apr 14, 2011
"Feed your voracious appetite
Death is the great equalizer with an infinite appetite for all the creatures."
Rathnashikamani Bijja, Apr 12, 2011
"i envy you.you potray such a beautiful style,i can very much relate to it but u just composed it better"
Karabo Matthews Ndlovu, Dec 6, 2010
"MASTERPIECE"
SYS, Dec 6, 2010
"Thank you, Tshokologo. I'm humbled and I know exactly what you mean and exactly where. I guess at the time I thought I'd get away with it :) I've since learnt the importance of patience and rework... your crit will go a long way.. :) I will rework it one day and I hope you'll get to see and appreciate it.. Mcwah!"
Marcia T., Oct 23, 2009
"Different topic:Great work"
Shalley, Sep 29, 2009
"Gal you rock you know how to put your words together you really inspire me keep up the good work"
Cino ka mafanya, Jul 24, 2009
"Solid sister, solid! Your insight on some of the lines of thought are a bit suspicious, but as a work this is too tite."
Tshokologo, Jul 1, 2009
"you made me jealous,at the same time made me proud as a poem writer.The governance of your poem sends the expressed ideas in my head..Like nostalgia"
Mary Joy Lariza, Apr 29, 2009
"Nice one!! Its only poets that can write addressing death. We lesser mortals fear even the name of death."
Saket Ranjan, Mar 15, 2009
"Sista, how do you come up with all these words. You rock!!!"
Zandile Mboneni, Mar 13, 2009
"i never took death in the words thtat you put it in.nice poem girl"
uyarula, Nov 6, 2008
"wow! nice peace.."
Sivuyile Godongwana, Oct 1, 2008
"u remind me of that mad journey...beautiful work"
Masechaba Wessie , Sep 18, 2008
"I now know, that the art of poetry lies in the way you connect words together ,they then result to this melodic piece of work, beautiful my sister indeed."
Mthunzikazi Mbungwana , Sep 11, 2008
"I like the way you put words together"
Anonymous, Jul 31, 2008
"I am trying to piece together this puzzle of non-explicit words. The writing itself is very original and beautifully written. I somehow still find this art work puzzling. Nice work Marcia."
Anonymous, Jul 31, 2008
"its fantastic."
gabi, Apr 3, 2008
"Marcia, highly gripping...almost scary yet its reality is eminent and non-fictional."
NM, May 29, 2007
"The rhytm and style of Dear Marcia is way beyond imagination"
Benjamin Chiloane, Feb 4, 2007
"Hhmmm..."
ManTlaxa Dibade, Oct 16, 2006

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