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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I wrote a poem for you

March 12th 2012

I wrote a poem for you The day before I met you When I didn’t yet know a soul can be shipwrecked Or that the sun can have secrets When I hadn’t yet learned to look for symptoms Or dreamed you could become my weakness You entered me like a sickness From your first ‘hello’ [...]

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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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Captivated

June 1st 2011

Hold me like a promise; Break me like a vow. For today I am as fragile as the secrets of a child, And as desperate as a dream dressed in dust.

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Another woman

March 15th 2011

There is another woman living In the friction Between your hips and my thighs Do you think I haven’t seen The memory of her Swimming in the moisture of your eyes? Do you think I haven’t noticed The sadness In the lines around your smile? Do you think I haven’t realised You’re somewhere else all [...]

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Glimlag

May 16th 2010

Jou lag Weef ‘n lied Deur jou liggam. Jou glimlag Skryf ‘n gedig Op jou gesig. Jou trane Teken ‘n toekoms Op jou wange. Jou hart Klop ‘n ritme Van verlange.

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Ek dra jou soos ‘n sonsak om my skouers

February 25th 2010

Droog en skaamteloos soos ‘n woestyn Het ek geraamteloos verdwyn Agter jou albaster oë. Ek kon sien Waar die holte en die oorloop Van ‘n leeftyd se hoop en verlang Jou vas vang. En so raak ek toe verlore Tussen die miriade woorde Wat jy nie verby Jou lippe kan kry.

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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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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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Adam’s rib

March 8th 2009

I found her sitting motionless. Like a rock in the wind. I didn’t look forward to seeing her again. But I went to her because I knew she was suffering. I also knew only I could alleviate it, albeit temporarily. Getting to her was like walking though a maze. But I could always smell their [...]

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