Coming of Age

Gift Sakirai

Description

In ‘The Curse’ we see the existential dilemmas that the characters have to deal with in their day to day life on hard planet earth. These recurring dilemmas become the leitmotiv of the whole collection. The poet uses literary figures and philosophical terms that connect with past literature like Sisyphus, Nirvana, quixotic, The Pied Piper, Spartans, Jim Crow etc. in his poems to show us the situations his characters are going through, likening them to these past literary figures and their stories. In ‘Coming of Age’, the poem that informs this collection and titular to the collection, he talks of the ghetto being, his journey as he tried to break the cycle of poverty and vault himself out of the ghetto and the political situation that weighs heavily on this being. How this being comes of age in the scourge of this time. This is an important and well assembled beautiful collection of poetry of the Zimbabwean struggle.

Sujets

• African
• Poetry

Informations

• Publié par: Mwanaka Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd
• Date de parution: 08 décembre 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781779331601
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

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Gift Sakirai

Coming of AGE Poems

Gift Sakirai

COMING OF AGE: poems

Gift Sakirai

Mwanaka Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd, Chitungwiza Zimbabwe * Creativity, Wisdom and Beauty

Publisher:Mmap Mwanaka Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd 24 Svosve Road, Zengeza 1 Chitungwiza Zimbabwe [e-mail] [e-mail] https://www.mmapublishing.org www.africanbookscollective.com/publishers/mwanaka-media-and-publishing https://facebook.com/MwanakaMediaAndPublishing/

Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com

ISBN:978-1-77933-164-9 EAN:9781779331649

©Gift Sakirai 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views ofMmap.

Dedication This book is dedicated to my children Precious, Keyon and Shanice: the people who will always define my existence.

Acknowledgements

The poems Once as a Child, The Seed, Coming of Age, Do you Remember and I Am first appeared in the anthologyEssential Verses which was published by Essential Books Publishing Company whilst the poems The Forgotten, Farewell, A Prisoner of Time, The Curse and Depression first appeared inZimbolicious 7: An Anthology of Zimbabwean Literature and Artswhich was published by Mwanaka Media and Publishing.

Table of Contents

The Curse Coming of Age Footprints Miss Africa The Pied Piper The Forgotten The Gambler When I was Yesterday When We Die Spartans The Ghost of a Girlfriend Past A Prisoner of Time I am My Africa The Last Stand Dear Hope The Seed The Supplication Once As a Child Farewell Poetic Justice Depression Alone Together The Zeitgeist The Ice cream vendor Dreams Still The Darkness Within Misery Classroom Blues A Special Kind of Hate

The Interloper Therapy Sessions Death on a Christmas The Destitute Worker The Reunion Thought tracks Deliverance Childhood I Could Have Been Once Upon a Time Picking up the Pieces The Thin Line I Have Grown Buyers and Sellers Do You Remember? A face I used to know Betera A Wealth of Remembrances Betrayed Hopes The Incarceration If you are to tell me Black Is Thoughts of an illegal gold panner Costly Dreams Lost Friends Upon Meeting a Beautiful Stranger The Dream The Wheel of Life Mmap New African Poets Series

Introduction In The Curse we see the existential dilemmas that the characters have to deal with in their day to day life on hard planet earth. These recurring dilemmas become the leitmotiv of the whole collection. The poet uses literary figures and philosophical terms that connect with past literature like Sisyphus, Nirvana, quixotic, The Pied Piper, Spartans, Jim Crow..etc in his poems to show us the situations his characters are going through, likening them to these past literary figures and their stories. In Coming of Age, the poem that informs this collection and titular to the collection, he talks of the ghetto being, his journey as he tried to break the cycle of poverty and vault himself out of the ghetto, the political situation that weighs heavily on this being. How this being comes of age in the scourge of this time. In Footprint the character narrates the places his feet took him to and hopes when he faces the event horizon, he would have left indelible footprints that will stay the test of time. In Miss Africa, he uses the metaphor of Africa as a lover one works for that doesn’t give back the love. As in love, Miss Africa would rather give her love to the plunderer who doesn’t care about her. It’s a mockery at how the downtrodden give their life’s sweat to the rich and never get anything back. In The Gambler, he talks of how he gambles with the economic situation in Zimbabwe, hyperinflation and depreciation of the dollar, making hima “salaried beggar”, as the money he earns won’t cover his basics. When I Was Yesterdayback to the harks struggle of the black man against racism and economic deletion by the white colonial machinery. So this collection falls under struggle poems, not necessarily political in the sense of government and party politics, but, as well, personal, thus the adage the personal is political

is strongly felt in the collection. The characters struggle with the yokes they are forced to carry and try to create solidarity with the suffering masses to find closure and acceptance of their situations. This is an important and well assembled beautiful collection of poetry of the Zimbabwean struggle and I fully recommend it. Tendai Rinos Mwanaka

The Curse

The sinking sun on yonder horizon

Mirrors my hope’s trajectory these yester years,

Forever sinking in despair,

Only to have a still birth on the morrow.

What not to do for mine existence

To escape for good this Sisyphean curse?

Dare I with a flair

Shout at mine destiny in order to catch

A glimpse of my ever elusive Nirvana?

Perchance, I ought to assume a quixotic countenance

And take to task personages who hawk-like

Snatch hope from the nest of my dreams.

I know not what the sun will bring at dawn,

All my jilted heart knows for certain is

Withstanding daily the pain of dreams

Whose luminescence is robbed

By a darkness that never goes away. 1