Phelelani Makhanya

ABOUT THE COLLECTION BLOOD SKIN BONES is a poetry collection that covers diverse sub themes, from nostalgia to world politics to the admiration of the natural world to deep self-introspection. But the dominant packaging theme of this collection is mortality. Mortality of the body, the mind and the soul. It interrogates the perennial wrestling between a human entity and mortality. It dissects the conversation between the two entities.

Dear friend, I am a South African from the ethnic group called AmaZulu (Zulus). They say our language sounds romantic and beautiful when we pronounce words with our unique clicking sounds. They say when we pronounce these sounds it is as if our mouths are nestling wood fire; it is how the sound pops. I don’t know about that but what I can tell you is that there is a strange way my tongue behaves when I pronounce the name of your rubbled land, “GAZA”.

By Phelelani Makhanya Dear white people Story continues below Advertisement We are not begging you to like us. We are not even begging for the flake of love and empathy you give to cats and dogs and rhinos and parrots. We are not even begging for the crumb of care you give to rose bushes and lawn. We didn't force our way into to this planet. By the time we opened our eyes we were already here. We don't know why and how.