I am a nourished poet who stays in Khayelitsha. I am the last boy in my home and the last generation of my clan. My life had its ups and downs, but I have always been stronger but not now. I am feeling like an outsider in my own community because of my success. Jealousy has always been their mission to end a life. My success has allowed me to take my life forward. I was born with a mission to love my home and my community, but now I don’t know my mission in this great wall I live in.

A wise man once said, “We don’t choose where we are born but we choose our own destiny.” I became a poet through the darkest eras of my life, and my friends hated that I was a poet. It was a mission for them to bring me down but they failed; now it becomes an objective for them to make me fail. I always thought that I was a hero in my community, but now I despise what I had thought. I now understand how it feels to be an outsider; it hurts, but it only makes you stronger in the end and being loved is priceless. I met some bad and good heroes but I had always valued motivation as key in this journey of life.

How did this hatred all start? It all started when I was 14 years old, just starting high school. I was the brightest student of them all; everyone wanted to be like me. I had a problem with that. One day when I saw this boy crying for comfort, I didn’t know it was a trap. When I went to comfort this boy, they kidnapped me and knocked me out. I woke up to boys wanting to kill me. I started praying and a hero of mine saved me from the hell I’ve been in. Those boys were the devil’s soldiers. The devil started infecting his poison to my people as he wanted me to be lonely in this world. I was told I had special powers. I couldn’t intact them or I’d let the devil win; in my case even my hero turned his back against me. I was lonelier than before; my family had died and my community turned on me.

I thought my life was over, but a special friend saved me. I always thanked that person; as I told him what happened he left me in the desert and told me to figure out what was happening in my community. I am still walking in the desert of Africa. The last generation of my clan vows to find the devil himself. All my life is gone forever, but my spirit shall rise in the walk of loneliness to heal my community. I am feeling like an outsider in my own community but in the end I will win the fight.

Tell us: Do you think he should walk away from his community and start over elsewhere?