Curled up on the floor,
At the corner of my room feeling sour.
Few nights I cried myself to sleep,
Yesterday was day four.
Cascade of emotions and thoughts,
Nostalgia and regret taking the fore.
What should I have done differently?
For this, I have fought with my thoughts.
I’m so angry – sad and angry at…
I want to acknowledge to myself and the universe
that I am a beautiful woman—
whole, radiant, and worthy.
Not because someone sees it,
but because I do.
And when love finds me,
it will be because it recognizes what I already know,
that I am deserving of care, softness, and joy.
I am tired of always…
Alice was the first woman
who told me I am beautiful.
We sat across from each other,
and she looked at me and asked,
“Do you know you are beautiful?”
Before I could answer Alice, she
she smiled and said,
“You are beautiful.
Don’t let anyone else make you feel otherwise.
Especially boys.
If they make you doubt it…
Love is like a poet writing a poem –
Crossing out words,
Erasing sentences and lines,
Sometimes trashing the whole page.
He might do this with rage,
Then start again on a new slate
With more love, not hate,
Searching for the right words –
The perfect fit for his heart’s expression.
So don’t stop loving.
You might meet…
I finally realized that I poisoned myself with hatred,
Because I hated everyone and everything I set my eyes on.
Hatred took my dignity,
It took away the beauty within me
And it all cost me my life.
Because of hatred,
I ran away from reality,
I couldn’t face it anymore.
Hatred penetrated my heart with its…
My name is Tshegofatso Kgosintwa. I am the founder of the BIG Sister Society, a digital anti-gender-based violence (GBV) movement I created in March 2021.
My journey didn’t begin with the work I do today. It started when I was just three months old. In 1995, I tragically lost my…
Butterfly
Beautiful like a ray of sunshine
Wings that can flap for hours
Our life as butterfly cowers
We hold our heads up high like a tower
To reach the height of a butterfly
Just like a butterfly, we can transform
The transformation is slow and delicate
But when we change it is a resplendent glory
Our life…
My name is Mathapelo Atoro and I am from a very small town named Gibing, near Wepener, in the Free State province. I was raised by my single mother, alongside my late grandparents. My mother worked as a domestic worker to provide for us. I have a younger brother…
The joy of knowing I didn’t lose you—
The solace of knowing it could have been so much worse.
The pain you carried,
The self-hatred that consumed you,
I felt it.
The feeling of helplessness,
hopelessness, and despair
You tried to cover with your jokes,
I felt that so painfully
When I saw you on the
hospital bed in…