Tuesday 1 May 2018

Rehab From Love: 4 Poems ~ Uwais Coetzee

Rehab from Love


I’m trying to get better,
Trying to better my mentality.
Trying to ease my hurt,
Not physically but mentally.
You didn’t hurt me
I handed myself the rope
Your perfection drew me in
But I thought I had hope.
I thought I had a chance
I thought it might work out.
I thought you’d love back
But you chose a different route.
You chose to change
And I still wonder why,
The hearts explained it all,
You chose another guy.
I know I’m imperfect
I know I’m not the best,
But you said it yourself
I wasn’t like the rest.
Didn’t you want something
Nobody else could get,
You didn’t have to worry,
Nobody else was a threat.
You could have been the Harley to my Joker,
Fit my madness like a glove,
But now I’m in the mental hospital
Getting rehab from your love.



Their Favourite Place


They hung their moth-eaten coats
On the same rack every day
As they’d quietly think
Of something to say,
Something to do,
Something to be
Not as serious as lovers
But just “you and me”.
They sat at the same table
Every week
Not touching their cell-phones
But not a word they’d speak,
Not a phrase they’d utter,
Not a breath too loud,
Their silent co-existence
Was enough in the crowd.
The steps they’d take,
The posture they’d pose,
The way he always brought
A cliched red rose.
The songs they played
And in silence they sang,
The bartender’s noises,
The same cling, same clang.
The same situation
In the place that was theirs,
The way no one pays attention,
The way no one cares.
The same broken thoughts,
The same tear-stained face,
They went on different days
To their old favourite place.



Hello


He was shy and she was reserved
And they never knew each other well
But both were in love and both were infatuated
But neither one could tell.
She was sneaky and he was sly
And they’d both stalk each other online.
They had pain and were heartbroken
But both always said they were fine.
So she went out with friends
And he locked himself away
And both were sad and broken
When daylight broke the next day.
Because she was a party animal
And him, an insomniac
And of course both desperately
Wanted to go back.
They were both still in love
But neither told the other, though,
And each was left broken each day
As they painfully left it at ‘hello’.



It Hurt the Same


He continued with his love
Even though it caused him pain
And he just soaked it in
Like the ground soaks up the rain.
But he continued to do it
And he simply didn’t care
About the pain it caused him
And it simply wasn’t fair
That she never loved him
And showed him no affection
And the unrequited love
Led him in the wrong direction.
He locked himself away
And couldn’t sleep a wink
Because the pain she left him with
Left him with a lot to think
And feel and know
All about
Because she became something
That he couldn’t live without.
He contemplated death
But contemplated life
And then wanted to
Impale himself with a knife
Because he was on his last life
In this painful game
Because the pain she left him with
And death, hurt just the same.



©  Uwais Coetzee

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Grade 12
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