Poetess� manuscripts of reality published

Dumisani Ncube | Friday September 23, 2016 16:58

The book has a collection of poems that touches on different themes and topics; life struggles, identity, travel, Botswana, death and AIDS.

The book comprises of close to 50 poems that Poetess Phopho has written over the years. It carries poems such as The Streets of Gaborone, Something Beautiful, Smiles, My Neighbour’s Girl Child and The Zebras of Botswana.

Unlike other poets and authors that base their writing on blending fiction with reality, Poetess Phopho went raw on her manuscripts as she gave a depiction of reality through her verses.

She called a spade a spade without batting an eyelid.

This was easily noticed in her opening poem titled The Streets of Gaborone where she talks of struggles found in the capital where everyone comes to make a living.

There is a stanza that states: “The streets of Gaborone are gold and sacred/Free and wild sometimes/ Gaborone your streets are coloured in anguish and pain/ The streets of Gaborone lead to/ Complaining mothers and proud absent fathers/ Some streets of Gaborone lead to shopping malls with skeleton buyers/ Filled with hopeless wallets”.

A Motswana reader can easily relate to the book as the author touches on various elements such as Ntimbale (a dam in the north east), Maun, Botswana football team and folk stories. For someone who is not a Motswana, it is a must-read as the book gives you different perspectives on the country.

With some of the poems having been written years ago, they get to remind the reader of certain periods. A notable poem is The Zebras of Botswana, which talks of Botswana’s brave showing against star-studded Ghanaian football team in 2012.

The poems are structured in such a way that when reading, your mood goes on a rollercoaster trip of mixed emotions. At some section, you find a poem such as We Made It, which will quickly uplift your spirit, but when you turn over a leaf, you are jolted into reality by another poem, Dear Jay that can suddenly send your emotions on freefall.

In the book, Poetess Phopho used a language that is easy to relate to unlike other poets that get too excited and employ bombastic words that can leave one in need of a dictionary.

With most of the poems focusing on the structure of the society, it is noticeable that the author put her academic background to good use since she is a student of Sociology and Environmental Studies.

As a strong believer in God and Christian teachings, Poetess Phopho also penned a number of religious and motivational rhymes such as Daughter of the Most High.

However, for someone who is multi-lingual, the poet decided to use only English throughout the various poems yet she sometimes recites some of her works in languages such as Chinese, Korean and French. She could have at least put a couple of non-English poems in the book too.

As for the publishers Bahati Books, they did a splendid job by scouting Poetess Phopho and giving her an opportunity to publish her book. As the publishers, Bahati Books should also make a concerted effort to market Stories From The Sun.