Conscience Fiction
Poetry by Ilva Pieterse

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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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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Cullinary creation

October 21st 2009

I didn’t mean To weep into your tea I just wanted a piece of me Inside you I not quite sure why I cried into your stir-fry Maybe it was dry And needed salt It’s not my fault I didn’t mean to wail Into your ice-cream And share my dreams With a frozen milk dessert [...]

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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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Beginsels

September 17th 2009

Jy lat my dink an fynbos en heuning Ek voel jou in my spiere se spanning. In die spasies tussen my kinderdae En die masker wat ek deesdae dra Skenk jy vir my ‘n kussing ### Geen storie uit my hede Sal so vassit in my verlede Soos daai onverwagte toneel Toe ek en jy [...]

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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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