Wear Your Dreams Like Your Skin

By N.L. Damoyi

Imagine a life with or without faith, love or compassion? What would be the purpose of life then? If it is happiness, it never lasts as it loses its sparkle after a while. But, happiness inspired by good deed or good intention is always fulfilling. Join NL Damoyi as he celebrates life greatest achievements, compassion, love and faith, through his poems. He pays tribute to people, events and work of art that served as his teachers to demonstrate the positive power of Love, Faith and Compassion during and after the dark days of Apartheid in South Africa.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jan 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781499093285

N.L. Damoyi

NL Damoyi grew up in Alexandra, one of Johannesburg oldest townships. His love for poetry began when he was 14 years old, where his writing became a conduit for protest against Apartheid. At 18, he published his first poem Shamming, a poem about Biko’s death. NL was one of the founding members of the Khauleza Cultural Group that performed poetry in Alexandra and the surrounding townships of what is now called Gauteng Province. NL is a jounalism graduate from Rhodes University, he holds a Master’s degree in Arts (Social Policy), and a Master’s in Businesss Administration (MBA) qualification. Today NL is Managing Director of Sengenyathi Enterprises (Pty) LTD, a holding company with divisions in Road Construction, Book Publishing and Distribution. In 2010, NL self-published his first book, Daughter of Zulu through Xlibris Publishers. Wear Your Dreams Like Your Skin his latest collection of poems. It is an anthology in praise of knowledge, ability and wisdom.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by N.L. Damoyi.

Library of Congress Control Number:         2015900407

ISBN:                  Hardcover                             978-1-4990-9327-8

                             Softcover                              978-1-4990-9326-1

                             eBook                                    978-1-4990-9328-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version

(Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Rev. date: 01/22/2015

Xlibris

0-800-056-3182

www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

696546

CONTENTS

Anthology in Praise of Knowledge, Ability and Wisdom

TO BE THE BOSS OF MY OWN

UBUNTU

TO LIVE OR DIE IS MORE THAN A QUESTION

GOOD WISHES

STAY THE COLOUR YOU ARE

CATCH ME A STAR

DHARMA

THERE’S GOD IN HER QUIETENESS

TO THE NATION DYING YOUNG

MAN’S BALLS

THE DREAM LAST NIGHT

MAYA ANGELOU

THE IMPRUDENT YOUTH IS LONG GONE

DAUGHTER, ALCOHOL IS FOR EXPIRING PEOPLE

BEAR WITH ME FOR A WHILE

BIGOTS DO AS MONKEY DOES

MAPUTO

TO THOSE WHO IMITATES LOVE

A LETTER OF PLEA

(from a teenage girl wanting to attend Oprah Winfrey’s Women Leadership Academy)

HURRY UP (KHAWULEZA)

A PRIVATE THOUGHT

NELSON MANDELA’S AT SANDTON CITY SQUARE

CONFUSED AS I WAS

MEANINGLESS HEMORRHAGE

ZAKES BANTWINI

(A dream born in the ghetto)

KANANA (CANAAN)

BEAUTIFULNESS OF MUSIC

AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL HILL, HILLBROW

FOR WORDS I NEVER SAID, BUT ACTED UPON

CHIEF ALBERT LUTHULI

I TURNED TO THE OTHER CHEEK

CHILD OF THE REVOLUTION

IS THIS LOVE?

KAMO AND MOHAU

KEEP THE SKY IN THE SUN

AZANIA

BACK TO GOD RSA

ANDRIES TATANE WAS A GOOD MAN (For Bob Marley)

TO ALL MY FATHERS

BLACK WOMEN IN JOHANNESBURG

HERE LIES THE MAN

THE MARRIAGE VOWS

ZULULAND

(The land of milk and honey)

IT ALWAYS RAIN ON JUNE 16

THE WATCHMAN

ON THE EDGE OF GREATNESS

(The View Of A Last Cent Philosopher)

WEAR YOUR DREAMS LIKE YOUR SKIN

THE RAT

THE BACHELOR

AFRICA, MY FIRST LOVE

A COMPLAINT FROM A SINGLE WOMAN

The SAINT AND THE POLITICIAN

RICH, POOR BOY

MAY I BE YOUR EXTRA-ORDINARINESS

STRANGE TIMES WE LIVE IN

WITCHES OF GESELNUM

ONCE WE WERE THE URGE OF TIME

THE COMMUNIST DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE

HILLBROW, THE GOOD AND THE BAD

THE TRUTH

WHEN I VISIT THE LIVING SPRING

MY HOME IS THE UNIVERSE

AFRICANNESS

THANK YOU

A SONG FOR SOLOMON

MICHELE OBAMA

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

VENUS AND SERENA

TO THE LOVING KIND

BARRACK OBAMA IN THE WHITE HOUSE

I WILL SPEAK MY TRUTH, EVEN IF IT KILLS ME

FREEDOM

BE DAZED, DAZZLED AND DAZZLING

MANDELAVILLE 95

AFRICA EATS UP HIS CHILDREN (For Ken Saro Wiwa)

SUFFER FOR WHAT

(For Fela Kuti)

PEACE BURN BRIGHT

(For Muhammad Alie)

BROTHER BILL

U2

REVEREND JACKSON

SAMORA M. MACHEL

GO FORTH

AS (For Stevie Wonder)

SLEDGEHAMMER

(For Peter Gabriel)

REVEREND SAM BUTI

GRACA MACHEL

IN PRAISE OF ABILITY, KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

THE LAW OF REDRESS (Deuteronomy 15:12-18)

THE DIGITAL PLANET WARRIORS

TRIBUTE TO PROTEST POETS (Staffrider Generation)

TO VIRGINS

TO A TODDLER THAT CAME TO WOMANHOOD IN HER CHILDHOOD

NYAVANE

A THING THAT TRIPPED A GOD-FEARING WOMAN

MAKHADZI

MAMKHIZE

POEM FOR ZANDILE

PRONOUNCEMENTS

DEAREST COUSIN, WHY ARE YOU SAD?

THE BIG MAN IS IN TOWN

UMZIMKHULU-THE LAND OF MY FATHER

GOVERNMENT OFFICES IN JOHANNESBURG

HAPPINESS IS NOT A RELIGION

BLACK MAMBAZO

HYMNS OF XHOSA

FATHERHOOD

THE GUILTY ONES SHALL BE AFRAID

YOU ARE NOT AN ORPHAN

(To Lehlohonolo Damoyi)

I AM MY FATHER’S SON

ALEXANDRA-THE PLACE OF DEVAS AND ASSURAS

AS I SEE IT (To Bra Nat Nakassa)

SIMPLY AFRICAN

BATTLE OF COMRADES

STRAWBERRIES AND LEMONS (For The Union Of Africa)

BROWN STREET IN TSHWANE

IF

NADINE GORDIMER

645 EBONY PARK, MIDRAND

CROSSING BIAFRA

DAYS AND NIGHTS, UNITED IN FEELINGS

A BANK OF MY OWN

THEY SAY POETRY HAS NO PLACE IN THE MARKETPLACE

Anthology in Praise of Knowledge, Ability and Wisdom

ONE HAND WASHES ANOTHER is an African proverb. It means compassion is as natural as hands wash another. It sought to promote compassion and kindness in a community. It also means that if one is granted compassion and kindness, one is then expected to act compassionately towards others so that compassion and kindness can be spread to all in a community.

TO BE THE BOSS OF MY OWN

To breathe joy every second,

Rise with the bright sun,

Keep the mind focused,

On those things I can control,

Appropriate time to boss myself

Live for the present moment-

I want to go to destinations inside me,

And reap joys of eternity,

I want to be my own boss,

Slow my heartbeat to nature’s rhythm,

Purify my mind like spring water,

These wishes I make for myself:

To be free of anxieties,

To be free of sorrows,

To be free of troubles,

To be free of calamities,

To be free of internal conflicts,

I want to live for the right understanding,

Not to be suppressed by identity,

Not to be