some secrets are not meant to be kept
and so we whispered ourselves into a silence,
until the songs in our hearts died in the hush.
we sold our high-notes short
in the bartering for lust
lost in the lustre
of the promises we exchanged
underneath dinner tables,
between meals
between our spouses’ legs.
between us
lived a clanging of hearts beautifully out of tune.
but to be played low
we’d kiss each other as if to keep each other quiet
as if to say: “scream into me, but do not wake the neighbours”
“do not awaken my love.”
“do not awaken, my love.”
But a conscience is not a quiet affair.
And now we find ourselves freeing a secret kept too long.
From bartering
Our wedding rings
To just a ringing in our ears.
Thabiso Ngwenya is a lifelong artist and writer from eSwatini who fell in love with poetry and spoken word in Pretoria. He has performed on many stages in SA including WordNSound, Spoken Sessions and more. He has also performed internationally in San Francisco.