Conscience Fiction
Poetry by Ilva Pieterse

Narcissus & Echo

June 6th 2012

Oh, it was beautiful When I had but you to fill When I was one part shadow Two parts echo A gecko on the walls of your heart Through your halls I roamed Silent from the start Quiet till the end I called you home I called you friend   I was hauntingly unaware Of [...]

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Stars/scars

April 28th 2012

I am waiting for the stars to lead me Away from this late night double-feature But I just can’t get these scars to leave me Our time was too short For me to realise That a five-star last resort Was all I was to you I should have been the wiser I should have seen [...]

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Wonde wonderwerk

July 5th 2011

Ek het ons storie geskryf Met ‘n lem op my lyf Die son was te helder daai dag Vir my hartklop om langer vir joune te wag. Ek het die mes soos ‘n kwas vas gehou En diep snye geskilder – ‘n van Gogh vir jou. Ons verhaal het verskyn Op my vel – lyn [...]

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Cocoon

June 6th 2011

She spun a cocoon The colour of a silent moon Around what remained Of her lost and un-gained. She bound bone to bone Stitched smile to song And calmly coloured her cries In the shades of reason gone wrong. But when she saw That her loss was a learning curve And her being Not a [...]

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Silwer seisoen

March 24th 2010

Jy was ‘n silwer seisoen Versier met groen verassings Ek was natuur se weduwee Winter-kaal en kleurloos. Jy kon duidelik sien My siel was was vas betrap In ‘n gebreekte grafsteen. En ek het niks geweet Van roomys drome, wilger bome Of die heiligheid van somer reën. Ek sal nooit vergeet Hoe, in die sterlig [...]

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I’m sorry

January 9th 2010

I’m sorry I beheld you like a painting I’m sorry I never held you like a person I’m sorry I couldn’t complete the story you started writing as a boy About the child inside a whale I’m sorry I couldn’t finish your tale About the girl cradled in an orange rind I’m sorry I could [...]

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Tired

December 23rd 2009

I tried to recall the rhyme our bodies made As we laid under the setting moon And you hummed the tune Of an old cartoon Your whispers made me weak Your words set me free Under a star-filled canopy Love appeared to me In the shade of a tree The poetry in our sighs Could’ve [...]

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I wanted to love you

December 23rd 2009

I wanted to love you But I didn’t know how Or when or where To start. I couldn’t find a space Between the abrasions on your heart On which to lay my head. I tread softly between The tearing tissue As you bled. But I couldn’t find a place To build my happiness From your [...]

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Waarhede en naarhede

October 21st 2009

Die skok veroorsaak Dat ek jou skielike skuld erkenning in asem En agter my tande betrap En tussen my wange vasvang Ek het mos vroeg geleer Om die tekens te ignoreer En jou leuens te glo Ek was vir te lank geneig Om an jou valsheid soos ‘n stokkielekker te suig Jou bloeiende, blootstellende geheim [...]

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You killed my sleep

September 17th 2009

My skin still retains the heat of your breath As you recited Macbeth Into my hair It’s not fair That all I am is the vibration of your words Against my breast as you confessed And now your sudden escape from our life is causing dischord Your side of the bed still remembers your shape [...]

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