Mooketsi finds healing in poetry
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday February 26, 2023 06:00
“It became a turning point for me because I felt a spark I cannot really explain. That moment I just knew poetry is something I would like to do.
The first ever inspiration into my writing of poetry came during my Form 1 days in 2012 when I was just a child who loved rap and would try writing my own lyrics sometimes,” she asserted.
Furthermore, she said: “I started poetry at Form 1 in 2012. After the spark from that poem I read, fast forward there was the day of the African Child celebration at school and the theme was dedicated to children living with disabilities. I then wrote my first poem ‘Who am I’ and was allowed to perform it during the June 16 celebrations.
The teachers and the students were really amazed.” However, she never performed anywhere else after that and just wrote. She said as she watched other poets on television, she began to doubt herself feeling like she was not good enough and by the end of 2013 she had stopped writing poetry. But in 2018 things changed, as there were two events that occurred and led her to writing again.
Mooketsi said one of the events included battling depression after having failed Bachelor of Science (General) programme and not making it to medicine. Around that period, she said they had a conference at church where she was part of the youth that was acting on some drama on Salvation where afterwards they decided to become a solid group and perform whenever there are church events.
She said they decided to get poets in the group and that was when she volunteered to help out. “Again, depression still resided within me and at one particular night instead of journaling like I used to, I wrote a poem called Arise, which I made a vow that it was ushering me into the poetic world. I vowed to myself that I'm going to use poetry to share my story and inspire people. The second poem a few days after came to me and I titled it ‘Bring Back My Energy,’ which expressed my depression to the core.
I would post those on my statuses and people loved my work,” she explained. Mooketsi also explained that in February 8, 2020 she stepped on stage for the first time after six years of her debut performance.
It was at a Youth Picnic event organised by her cousin whose theme was depression and said there she performed ‘Bring Back My Energy.’ She said the reception was something else she had not imagined, very profound and amazing that made her realise she was now home. Speaking of her outstanding, memorable performance that is very close to her heart, she said it was one when she was at the Southern Regional Competitions National Arts Festival last year June where she performed a poem ‘The Genesis,’ which was based on the theme ‘Creative Industries, a Vehicle to Sustainable Development’. It was the first time she entered the competition but she scooped position one.
She said she deemed herself an upcoming poet because due to COVID-19 she did not have so many platforms to perform. Her other memorable performance was at Intimate Sunday Sessions in September 2022. Her poems were centreed on death because even though she did not connect with the poem at first, when she got on stage she came in touch with herself and blew the audience away.
This young poet writes for the sake of humanity. She said she fell for poetry once again because she wanted to pour her depression out and share her story. She speaks to themes that directly address the chronicles of being a human including mental health issues, gender politics, death, love, purpose, religion and abuse amongst others. Mooketsi said she performed internationally on an online platform because of COVID-19 in a Catholic event dubbed Set Free Arts Festival. She said it was a festival to give tribute to St John Paul II, the former Pope of the Catholic Church who was very fond of artists. “Artists from 20 countries were showcasing their arts from film, painting, poetry, music and contemporary dance and I was representing Botswana on the poetry side. My poems Arise and Tears of the Sun were featured in the festival and there were breakout-meeting rooms where I had the facilitators as well as the different people interviewing me.
They were really in love with my art and I was elated that people actually loved my poetry and that’s much when I remembered all the days when I doubted myself,” she said. Furthermore, she pointed out that she looks up to local poet Anthony Molosi. She explained that his writings and delivery always captivated her from the very day she decided that she was doing poetry again. She added that of recent, she was captivated by the work of Phodiso Modirwa saying her poetic language was very rich and unique and Rudy Francisco from the United States whose work melts her heart. She said she hoped to see him perform live someday.