{"id":25222,"date":"2023-12-25T22:41:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T22:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/from-politics-to-sexuality-poetry-collection-enchants"},"modified":"2023-12-25T22:41:27","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T22:41:27","slug":"from-politics-to-sexuality-poetry-collection-enchants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/from-politics-to-sexuality-poetry-collection-enchants","title":{"rendered":"From politics to sexuality, poetry collection enchants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ethiopia. <\/strong><\/span>A great poet is best defined by their intellectual preoccupations and how those musings freeze the permanence of time into moments which last forever.<\/p>\n

Chinua Achebe\u2019s poetry, for instance, meditates on African culture, identity, and history and how that trinity integrates universal themes into the wholesome of their parts. His poetic approach allows the reader to explore life in all its variety without being restricted to a particular cultural context, while expressing particularist thought.<\/p>\n

Then Okot p\u2019Bitek, arguably Uganda\u2019s finest poet, used his first collection of poetry, Song of Lawino, to highlight the conflict of cultures. Okot p\u2019Bitek\u2019s freshman book was followed with Song of Ocol and a third volume, Two Songs, includes Song of a Prisoner and Song of Malaya to amplify this approach.<\/p>\n

The God Players, a poetry collection wonderfully written by Itah Patience Mbethki, doesn\u2019t depart from similar contemplations. Rendered in five parts, it moves easily between the spoken rhythms of its lines as the invocation of its balladry binds each poem to a sensuality of eloquence.<\/p>\n

In PART ONE: PICTURE (I have got it too.), Ms Mbethki\u2019s poem \u201cI too have got it\u201d reads like a philosophical musing while speaking to less-than-lofty happenings:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not the lack of faith<\/p>\n

keeping my feet hanged<\/p>\n

From the moving postures of<\/p>\n

disinterest<\/p>\n

But the idyllic set of the<\/p>\n

moment that promises time:<\/p>\n

\u2018Tomorrow\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Next month\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Next year, perhaps?\u2019<\/p>\n

The behaviour of these lines in relation to each other, \u201ctheir choreography,\u201d identifies her \u201cthen\u201d and \u201cnow.\u201d<\/p>\n

In PART TWO: THIS TEACHING THING (Ela Bya Ba Slay Queens), the poet examines the \u201cself-made\u201d curves of the Kardashians as a self-portrait of her own shortcomings.<\/p>\n

She is tantalisingly honest.<\/p>\n

In the poem \u201cThis Teaching thing,\u201d teaching is revealed as a delicate balancing act on the high-wire of extracurricular activity:<\/p>\n

I say this teaching<\/p>\n

thing teaches the teacher<\/p>\n

More than the taught,<\/p>\n

Because you study the boys<\/p>\n

And study the girls<\/p>\n

And study the cores<\/p>\n

And study the boss<\/p>\n

And study the mood<\/p>\n

Before you run to class<\/p>\n

And unlearn the learned<\/p>\n

For the mood has changed,<\/p>\n

And the boys have changed<\/p>\n

And the girls have changed<\/p>\n

And the boss has changed.<\/p>\n

After reading this, you realise that to teach is to learn. And to learn is to unlearn all that we have been taught in a dynamic world.<\/p>\n

As to the style, we should note that this particular stanza is beholden to a double structural feat\u2014it is both free and limited to no less than four words and no more than five words per line.<\/p>\n

In its freeness, it is a fixed form with a distinct pattern, like the sonnet, villanelle, or sestina. It is both expansive in its form, and contractive, in requiring the limitation of incantatory energy that comes with it being tailored towards the spoken word.<\/p>\n

PART THREE: MWE MUSAAGA (My Marks Stretch Love) of the book is a mixed bag of hilarity and hard-hitting reminders of what it means to be a man. My favourite was:<\/p>\n

\u201cNaye Men!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWake up<\/p>\n

Otherwise,<\/p>\n

One of these days, we will<\/p>\n

Have women discussing the<\/p>\n

how expensive<\/p>\n

It is to run a man…\u201d<\/p>\n

The Poet laments how the roles of men being the provider and women being the \u2018kept\u2019 are being thrown into a humorous recasting.<\/p>\n

Soon, it is clear; the feminists will not need to castrate a chauvinist. The chauvinist will castrate himself by his own volition.<\/p>\n

The \u201cKati kambuuze\u201d conversational flow of this poem makes it work like a charm. It is brilliantly engaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Princess in the wild\u201d, \u201cCrown\u201d and \u201cAmara\u201d segue into heart-tugging terrain that will not leave a dry-eyed reader in their wake.<\/p>\n

Touching. Loving. And wholly sincere.<\/p>\n

PART FOUR: COUP (The God Players) is political.<\/p>\n

Read \u201cTHE CYNICISM OF POWER\u201d, it is universal in its powerful message:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe powerful panic and turn<\/p>\n

Their pupils into a pit ball<\/p>\n

Of fireballs<\/p>\n

The many fall pits become<\/p>\n

Their netting charge they crumble men<\/p>\n

And cause some to tear up<\/p>\n

In shredded hope.<\/p>\n

The dreams of the others<\/p>\n

Are kicked in zest<\/p>\n

To advance the greed<\/p>\n

And insatiable<\/p>\n

Needs and wants<\/p>\n

That grow their egos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The poet expertly shows how our political culture has been commodified. In this vein, the commodity of power is priced so that only the rich can afford it. And it is thereby sealed off from true patriotic feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI AM NOT A POLITICAL TONGUE\u201d and \u201cGENERAL\u201d are poems that will knock any complacent ruler off-balance.<\/p>\n

PART FIVE: SOCIAL MEDIA LOVE (This love also) is a somewhat cynical meditation on love.<\/p>\n

You almost catch frostbite from such cold words:<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t tell me to love you,<\/p>\n

My heart belongs only to<\/p>\n

Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the whole, this book is a triumph for the author.<\/p>\n

The lexical arrangements uplift its rhythm with a triumph of epistrophic repetition that is typical of the Ugandan spoken word idiom (For the mood has changed\/And the boys have changed\/ And the girls have changed\/ And the boss has changed).<\/p>\n

Each part of the book (which is accompanied by illustrations) is heightened to the echo chamber of history.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, these words will ring through time.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Ethiopia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ethiopia. A great poet is best defined by their intellectual preoccupations and how those musings freeze the permanence of time into moments which last forever. Chinua Achebe\u2019s poetry, for instance, meditates on African culture, identity, and history and how that trinity integrates universal themes into the wholesome of their parts. His poetic approach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[233,277,235],"class_list":["post-25222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-ethiopia-2","tag-ethiopia"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom politics to sexuality, poetry collection enchants - Ethiopia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/from-politics-to-sexuality-poetry-collection-enchants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From politics to sexuality, poetry collection enchants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Ethiopia. A great poet is best defined by their intellectual preoccupations and how those musings freeze the permanence of time into moments which last forever. Chinua Achebe\u2019s poetry, for instance, meditates on African culture, identity, and history and how that trinity integrates universal themes into the wholesome of their parts. 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