Doubt lingers between these two gardens untamed
Yes, we have kissed so many times… My tongue rejects any language that isn’t yours
We have devoured each other with such hunger, our bellies grew an ache
That is well and good, but now it fails to sustain-
It’s often the conversations we don’t have that grow me worry; the passive-aggressive comments and the snide remarks
These ‘don’t turn a molehill into a mountain’ quiet worries brushed under the carpet have turned our house into a seventh wonder
It’s the moments you don’t wish to hold me at night because you’re angry about something and generational trauma has taught you that the vulnerability of a man is paid with shaming: I understand.
I cannot tell you how to process your emotions and feelings, because mine are still a mystery
You humble me religiously: seeing you break down walls for yourself slowly truly humbles me
I have learned not just love, but the strength of love shown by you admitting your faults
I love you is not enough
I see you say nothing
I admire you means less
You humble me… These words feel more appropriate.
I am learning to understand the expectations I have towards you and towards love,
Maybe they too can be problematic, seeing how the inability for them to be met leaves me feeling something less than positive
I want us to talk about these things and more-not just things that make us happy, but also things that make us sad, frustrated, angry, and feel less than
I will not leave until we are both willing to really talk
Patience is a CSP Free State Slam champ (2018) which saw her first performance as a Slam poet, a Vryfees slam champ (2019) and a Poetry Africa finalist (2021-2022). She was part of Hear My Voice poetry fest, The Word n Sound poetry slams, Pay The Poet fest, Poetic Blues poetry events, as well as Free the Word fest in Bloemfontein, PENM theater production of THIS IS ME. 2020 saw Patience release her podcast ‘Her Thoughts’ which can be found on Spotify, Anchor, Radio public, Google podcasts and Oncast. Patience is currently working on her script for a theater piece which she hopes to share with the public before the end of the year. It’s called ‘CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN PERSONALITIES’: which looks at the complexities of her own existence—being Black, woman, spiritual, queer, depressed, religious, everything governing her thoughts, feelings, experiences and mental processes. As part of the Radioactive poetry collective (2019) she got the amazing opportunity to travel with three other artists to Malawi to attend the Tumaini festival at the Dzaleka refugee camp where she met some of the amazing artists.
Patience was also a project manager on the amazing documentary that follows the journey of one of South Africa’s most prominent poets Nthabiseng ‘JahRose’ Jafta which can be watched on the National Arts Festival website. She has also been part of two amazing documentaries (Where the Poets Are) which can be seen on the Vryfees Kunstefees website, as well as the Eclectic Wordsmith, which shares a little bit about the poetic journey of three poets in the Free State (Me, Tshiamo Malatji and Kwena Peu). She was also recently nominated by the Central Music awards under the category ‘Best female poet of the year’. She has also received an award from the Radioactive Blog for The most improved poet of the year. She has done some work with a wonderful female artist from Nigeria by the name of Dera Melanie, and it’s called ‘Dear Woman, which can be found on YouTube, SoundCloud and Audiomack. Her piece on the experiences of being Black and female are to be published in a book project by Howard University entitled ‘African Women in Digital Spaces: Redefining Social Movements on the Continent and in the Diaspora to the publisher’, Mkuki na Nyota (MnP) Publishers which will be distributed in schools across the United States. In 2022, her work featured in the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology, the Toyin Falola short story Anthology, and the Poetic Blues anthology poetry anthology. Patience is also part of the Young African Leaders Initiative network, as well as the DefendDefenders ongoing training in Human and Women rights in Security management, wellbeing and international advocacy.