A Selection of Poems by Mpho Seleteng

 A Good Samaritan 

3/2/23

I have asked strangers to dip into my well of unworthiness.

I thought if they kissed me I would (magically) shed off the Cinderella excess.

I thought deeper was the way.

One? Two? Three fingers maybe.

Still...this gaping hole of unworthiness.

Still no tenderness.

Instead, I am met with irreconcilable fallen walls of Jericho - time and time again.

Passers-by with palms on their faces exclaimed and sighed in looping despair.

In this state:    No incense could make me whole.

                       No sage could keep me safe.

I had to blow out the dust, sweep in bended-back ritual, featherdust every nook and crevice of my body.

Tell my ladybits 'I'm sorry' - these boys have left you dilapidated; and I have left the door open; laying battered and inert - listened to the irons rage and the wind's mockery.

And all the while I have lain here, waiting, for a Good Samaritan.

you forgot where home is  

08 June 2017 22:50

 you forgot where home is

you slept in someone else's sheets

baby, you forgot where home is.

I wake up this morning with a lot on my mind and aching in my heart.

Empty cups, empty hearts

when the pain knocks on my soul like a rude awakening,

I will remember to open the door and let your ego find its way in 

Baby I will even swallow the ache to clear your name from this

My soul feels displaced

Your love carries an unfamiliar taste

These girls will kiss your scars and spit in your face!

And I must be addicted to the ache.

There is a hurricane sweeping through my body,

Even the rhythm in my walk is changing

Lick my skin,

Lick my wounds open,

Drink me slow, no hurry,

(Don't) Unlearn my body. 

Don't taste my soul

Say these prayers in silence

Say these prayers in silence

We say these prayers in silence

And you killed me.

Unlearn me.

I hate that I love you.

Your love feels like a lump in my throat.

Your love is deadly like nicotine.

Travelling like poison beneath my skin.

You must've forgotten where home is,

You are about as classy as sin.

The home in your heart isn't as warm as you may think

As I lie on a bed of thorns and unfulfilled promises

As an offering - I will lay on the table with my bones and spirit intact for your ego to feast

You're my drug

And I promise I need just one more refill

You make me feel everything, you make me feel like everything

then I find myself searching...

Soul searching,

Soul searching,

Soul searching,

Fill in these empty cups,

Fill in these empty hearts,

Fill me in complete.

The remnants of your love have stained the walls of my heart 

like bloodstains 

And the stains just won't come out

There are fragments of mutilated limbs and unsung hymns

Surely this is not how a home is supposed to feel,

I feel hollow and I swear your love has made me weak,

At times I don't want to even breathe

Midnight rides and sloppy kisses

I wonder if nirvana was just a dream

And lover these are the things you make me feel