Writing love poems therapeutic after loss

A young man whose teenage love interest committed suicide six months into their relationship, has found solace in writing love poems in his search for healing.

Mandisi Soyamba, 23, from Mfabantu near Ngqeleni, said the young woman he calls Narcissus was his first love and, after she died, he swore never to fall in love again.

It took two years for Soyamba to find the courage to write about his departed sweetheart, and now five years after her death, he still can’t believe she has gone. He has penned the

Demising of Enthusiastic in memory of the young woman from KwaZulu village near Ngqeleni.

“I was in Grade 11 and she was in Grade 10 at Dimanda High School in KwaChunu village in the district of Ngqeleni. Narcissus was my everything, and we were so happy to be together; we dreamt of growing old together,” he said.

Soyamba said his girlfriend had died in June 2013.

“I got a shock when, during the June school holidays after finding her cellphone off, I went to her village to inquire about her. To my shock, her friends and neighbours told me she had committed suicide by swallowing pesticide. Nobody knew why she had committed suicide.” He said they had met in December 2012 and she committed suicide in June 2013.

“Although it was short, to me it was like we had been in love for many, many years. When things were tough, she was my comforter, when there was joy, we rejoiced together and when she was hurting, we were in pain together. But I never got to bury the person I love because I did not know that she had died,” he said.

Soyamba also missed out on

Although it was short, it was like we had been in love for many years

the love of parents as his mother, Vuyokazi, died in 1999 when he was barely five years old and his father has never been part of his life.

“But my grandmother has been a mother and a father to me, as well as a friend,” he said

Soyamba said since the death of his girlfriend, he had not fallen in love with another.

“Writing love poems is a healing therapy. I have nearly come to terms with the fact that she has gone forever. But I still don’t have the courage to lose my heart to another woman. My heart believes that Narcissus will return.”