Nomzamo

Through the stinging of the system Wandering lonely as a cloud Talking only in the open Congregation is even now disallowed Growing anger in the city Banner headlines around the world What has to be done is called reformation To heal the rift of living apart together Forgive them, they know not what they do There's no love lost at all Save them they rue the day when They ever got involved Even so I have a dream Turning circles in my head That they're closing down all the no-go areas Opening one for them both instead Forgive them, they know not what they do There's no love lost at all Save them God are you waiting open-armed? All of the problems over the years I'm sure can be sorted with peaceful solutions My warm shoulder dries your tears I want no more heartache Oh for crying out loud No point asking if you're leaving Didn't I make that clear If we agree to differ The closer, I'm certain, we'll always feel Forgive them they know not what they do There's no love lost at all Save them they rue the day when They ever got involved

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Don't make any false promises Stay awhile when I'm not alone I forget all the anger in me Kiss a tear when the hammer falls They're holding me here in never ending circles I can still remember summer madness I can taste the perfume on your cheek The heat is overcome by coldness Consoling words are insignificant Say you'll pray Justify the actions These are days of the mob rule, sharp tongue, curfew When the mind is in solitary confinement Makes the mood that breaks you There's a spirit seeking liberation Here's a fire with a hungry heart If I listen, maybe time will tell me The reasons why we're torn apart As the years go by Don't make any false promises As the years go by Say you'll pray Here the silence is too loud In a steel barred jail on the other side We invented the differences That weaved the web with which we lied Caught in the middle of a cold war zone I left my lover in a far off place She'll kiss a tear when the hammer's falling And wipe the darkness from my face As the years go by Don't make any false promises As the years go by Say you'll pray As the years go by Don't make any false promises As the years go by Say you'll pray, say you'll pray Just say you'll pray Just say you'll pray

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Look beyond the colour Past the covering on us to see what we are Turn the faded pages The mark we leave on history is what we are Every country is part of us Irrespective of the one where we grew up Yes you are my sister Though we never shared a home that's what you are And your eyes keep shining in the darkness Defying all the chains that's what you are Home for the homeless, hope for the hopeless Between the lines on your face I can read... Nomzamo, Nomzamo... They of the silk white breast seemingly proud They are so much more less on the day of the vow Here's a woman who is tired and weary Leading resistance and still laying wreathes How can we stand by and watch this happen? Is this the justice we preach It seems too much to ask for an equal, peaceful living In a land of screams, stinging tears and broken smiles Following through all extremes 'One who will suffer many trials' Is this a land to inherit? Crumbs on the table the segregated people starve With gleeful oppression the mindless procession Cast nonchalance out of their cars Somewhere, sometime we pay for the crimes we incessantly do If we believe that we are what we leave I left a hope--what did you? Reeling from punches which leave them winded Reeling from laws which should be rescinded now Nomzamo, Nomzamo...

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Weird scenes are coming through the airwaves From a flickering tube, an old film with an older theme And those actors could be us but the ending is good So I'm thinking there's the rub Later when we meet It's emotion going through the motions A kick to break up or a kiss to make up But then there'll be another scene like the one yesterday When we say hello, we mean goodbye Feigning paradise, wanting to cry Love, all our passion I'm sorry to say Is part of the game we play So we're into action on cue And go spinning like a reel Summing up this relationship And the way I feel I think maybe we should go on out Into the moonlight, out of the spotlight And examine where we are and where we've been to Where we're going is down without a happy ending When we say, hello, we mean goodbye Feigning paradise, wanting to cry Love, all our passion, I'm sorry to say Is part of the game we play

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

I wish I had a penny For every time I told her I loved her But that sincerity I know won't raise the fare She was born with a wanderlust And against the odds she made the grade Now out of sight is out of mind to her I'm scared... It's a big bad big bad dead end world If I close my eyes I can't forget you, stranger In my sleep I see you dancing into danger Mister don't shoot her You can't see the whites for the reds of her eyes Maybe she's been crying over me While you're lying over her Talk of us is words in perfect tenses It seems that action men have broke down your defences We're passing strangers But your leaving left me wondering why These times have changed us Caught in the middle of a big bad dead end world Caught in the middle of a big bad dead end world Friends rally round but it's not just a question of sympathy Others come and go why won't you come and go with me? We're passing strangers But your leaving left me wondering why These times have changed us Caught in the middle of a big bad dead end world Caught in the middle of a big bad dead end world

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Free as the wind Tall as a tree Wide as a mind Deep as a sea You crawled on my land Now I grow in your hand Always like the first time Unlike the others They're so-so So called lovers Theirs is the push that comes to shove But not in our evolution It's natural From great to grand True love is never really planned And wipes the memory of those who came Before our evolution It's natural And with you see me walk on air I know that I can do it When you're holding tightly to my sleeve The one with my heart upon it Hard as a mountain range Bright as a harvest moon The set gets rearranged But there's still time to join our show Every dog must have its day Everyone's a winner And every time the lights go down on us I'm the bginner (sic) How lady luck has changed "So long Salem" The set gets rearranged But there's still time to join the show Free as the wind Tall as a tree Wide as a mind Deep as a sea An interlude With haunting melodies of nursery rhymes Singing the changes, singing the changes, singing... I hear talk of classroom drama Maybe it's a kind of psychodrama Children, the mirrors of our yesterdays On the land out of the sea Blowing in the breeze Mind over metaphor Fall in love with innocence Don't dally long with diligence Stand up choose me Don't refuse me They pawned our world of peace A flock of sheep to fleece Our flood of love won't cease No harm can come our way And it's easy to see what sets us apart From the creatures still on the ocean bed Our evolution it's natural It goes from great to grand Falls into place like something that we planned When you curl your arms around my frame Or curl your lips around my name And do just what comes natural The first thing on your mind Do just what comes natural I prefer your kind of human nature

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Sooner or later Ready or not We find ourselves dissolved in soil The big sleep state I don't worry When you got to go you got to go But wouldn't it be nice to have a say In our final day When I take my dying breath You'd better bet your life I'm going out Screaming Like I came in Screaming Love and emotion We're told will keep us sheltered From the threat of the bear But danger is everywhere So take my hand now As they adopt their fighting stance Parade our derision And assume the position, configuration When I take my dying breath You'd better bet your life I'm going out Screaming Like I came in Screaming I want to be the first to go, to test the water I miss those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer In our younger phase All the things I took for granted but most of all You When I take my dying breath You'd better bet your life I'm going out Screaming Like I came in now Screaming

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Here we are Alive and free Far away in time from our darkest day That took our young and brave From the cradle to the grave 70 years ago on July one 1916 on the Somme The enemies had never seen fighting like this before Such a simple plan-- How could any german man Survive through that ordeal? Company 'A' to Company 'B' "Morale is high here, sir, but I don't think it's safe to go" Company 'A' from Company 'B' "Mister you have your orders and you must obey" So the first line rose, and the first line fell And a poet who survived later wrote about A "Sunlit vision of Hell" And "Larks singing" Because after all it's just another summer's day in France And the Tommies on the Somme sang "We are fighting to turn no-man's land into a common ground" A common ground

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026