A Little Bit Of Sunshine

Love is not something you can trick Entice or earn.  It doesn't matter if you're Miss Interesting  Or Mr Elusive It doesn't matter if you have a thousand hobbies  A dream job, six dogs Not if you frequent the gym or bare your skin Not if you write soliloquys and sing hymns Not if you take your coffee with low fat milk Not if you learn a new language Not if you doodle on the corners of your notebook or write a novel Not if you win a Nobel Prize Earn the license to fly Not if you sew your own clothes and build your own home Not if you cook up a storm Or invent a new form of travel.  Love is love is love.  Love is not something you chase Love searches for you in the crowd Love leaves no room for doubt  Love draws near to you Falls over itself like a plant at the first  glimpse of sunlight Love is love is love.  It’s either there or it isn't. 

She didn't eat But when she ate, she ate the Word of God She didn't drink But when she drank, she drank the Spirit of God She didn't work But when she worked, she worked for the purpose of God She didn't dress But when she dressed, she dressed herself in holiness She didn't dance  But when she danced, she danced like David danced  She didn't talk But when she talked, she talked to the very face of God She didn't walk But when she walked, she traced the steps of the Lord 

Maybe I deserve more  Than the change falling out of your pocket After you've spent your best.  Maybe I deserve more  Than the charred remains left  After you've wined and dined the rest.  Maybe I deserve more than half-promises.  For there's always a hint of love  on the tip of your tongue.  But it never reaches full maturity It always stays young.  Maybe I deserve a love  That is solid and whole.  One I can actually hold with both hands Before it melts like a block of ice.  Maybe I don't have to be cooler.  Or try.  Breaching my own boundary lines For a love that was never mine. 

You're the picture of humility  and self-proclaimed righteousness  We love-starved lovers can't help but fall into your stare Even when it starts to resemble a snare We cocoon ourselves into your web That once felt like a safety net I don't think you even know you're doing it  Your venom is sweetness  Your poison disguised as treatment  for another ailment  Your love is different from the others It doesn't run out, it smothers  I become a mould of your worst insecurities You are low-hanging fruit  from an empty tree. 

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May." - William Shakespeare  May brought with it  the scent of rosebuds And lilies.  Lavender skies and light jackets Sweet tea packets.  I lifted my pinkies in the air and clinked cups with the ones I loved.  But the tea didn't stay warm The rainbow clouds dissolved  as quickly as they formed And the roses bore thorns.  I learnt there is a time for everything I swore I was above.  Fear, betrayal, even love I learnt that beauty sat along the razor edge of pain.  That a harvest was a bloody affair Being pulled out by the roots and skinned alive.  It is a terrifying thing to survive. 

Melancholy sinks its teeth  into my neck with cunning As I recall our history through a sepia haze...  And leave the ending a mystery.  Oh, but we were stunning The light always knew exactly  where to hit our faces.  Casting us in silhouette Unable to take true form just yet.  But the promise of it...  Tantalising, so close I could taste it Like a promise kept in suspense. So I lived in perpetual sunset Never seeing the full light of day. Even as the curtains closed and lights dimmed The audience applause began to slow We muttered about losing our window But we were just a no hit wonder With nothing to show. 

For whatever reason My best intentions were not enough to save us For whatever reason We have only a short time on this earth Before we turn into dust For whatever reason My meticulously laid plans  all became a bust For whatever reason A 30 year-long grudge  died suddenly without a fuss. 

"None of my friends are becoming legendary  directors, and I'm getting concerned."  - Sthuthukile Biyela, 2025  It’s been a few years since Issa Rae coined the term 'networking across' in an interview and changed my brain chemistry forever.  As a young creative, I was prone to watching inspirational videos of my idols: Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and, um... Shonda Rhimes.  While their words stoked a fire in my heart, the sheer size of their legend created a large dissonance in my mind. What miracle would it take for me to become like them?  Then I saw Issa Rae speak on networking across – the idea that the greatest resources you had were the people around you, the people who shared your passion and goals. Those were the people who could propel you towards greatness and help you achieve your wildest dreams. I began to think of how many success stories started out as a simple favour to a friend, or a joint project that probably never saw the light of day....

Various Vases, by Sthuthukile Biyela  (crayon on paper)  "Take out your creativity books , "   my teacher says.  It's my favourite time in class I am really good at literasy   And I am fine with numbers But creativity is where I tip my hat and greet the stars Win a race with my flying car And off I go, near and far Then land back on my desk Before anyone notices I was gone.  Mrs Kroutz leans over my shoulder "That's a pretty drawing, sweetie..."

We chew our gum ever so politely and stick it under our seats When it's time to share our piece Mine is about trees... again Willows with wilting leaves  and poplars happily chatting away I can pull out a tree metaphor Faster than a weed But today is different As the circle goes around, I crumple up my pretty perfect words and turn to the lost and found section  Of my notebook  Here the words are murky and leave an ugly residue  They're the thoughts I've buried in my head I'm not proud to share But even the oldest wounds needs some air and as I let it bleed  I'm closest thing to a tree than I'll ever be

"The only thing worse than dying in a zombie apocalypse, is surviving one."    Zombie media has taken over the world by storm (pun intended). With cultural staples like Zombieland and The Walking Dead, and   modern interpretations such as The Maze Runner and The Last of Us,  the zombie apocalypse has been an area of fascination in pop culture for some time. Recent contributions from Korean cinema such as  Train to Busan, Kingdom and  All of Us are Dead have introduced a whole new type of zombie and revived the once-stale genre. These zombies are cunning, fast, and have little to no weaknesses. Why are we so fascinated with them?  1. Well, they trigger our evolutionary instinct to survive at all costs.  2. They are freaking terrifying. The idea of the entire world succumbing to a virus/infection/mutation that causes us to lose our humanity and freewill is a fate that makes us uneasy. It also makes us seasoned survival experts from the comfort of ou...

I don't know if I've ever succeeded at being a human being  I carry a bag of evidence on my person  to remind me But I worry it is not enough.  I worry I am too fixated on being nice,  that I cannot be truly kind I'm afraid I jump to conclusions and make assumptions with my eyes I'm afraid I assign malice  where misunderstanding will suffice  I'm afraid my walls are too high for anyone to climb.  I'm afraid we are impatient and self-contained I'm afraid we can't hear each other  over our own thoughts  I'm afraid we think more highly of ourselves than we ought  I'm afraid my compass has never pointed North. 

I know of a tragedy for which no one cares... Where are the  soft pears? I've looked in the grocery aisles  and they're not there. I went to the market and saw one  that looked promising.  Only to sink my teeth into disappointment and watery toughness.  I've had my fair share of counterfeit pears  That couldn't be trusted.   When I was little, they were always around  Now, it seems they are nowhere to be found  Are they an urban myth I have spent  my entire life believing?  But there was a pear I had forgotten in my bag for a week To my surprise it was soft and sweet And I realised soft pears are not something you buy. You take them home and wait until they ripen. The sweetest things in life take time.