Life is taken some crazy turns and work has drained of moments of reflection. Add continued technological difficulties and my silence makes sense. But I don't really want to talk about that - though I wonder if this will actually make it through. Was posting to my other blog for a week before I realised stuff hasn't been posting.
Anyway, all fired up again. Went to Urban Voices Poetry Festival this last Saturday and was reminded of why I so love the Word. Urban Voices is always a difficult time because, while I have serious reservations about supporting an organisation (well, an individual) that continues to perceive and treat local poets as irritants and inferior beings, it is always an awesome experience because of the international poets that come through. I boycotted two years ago, out of principle, and then went totally my principles last year by performing. My reasons: it gave me the opportunity to meet Carl Hancock Rux (who I am in awe of) and the Last Poets. This year I actually bought tickets but that was because I had to see Suheir Hammad, Sekou Sundiata and Saul Williams; and I wasn't disappointed. I have the whole Def Poetry Jam and Suheir was one of the few poets I actually liked. Sekou Sundiata has quietly built a legacy. And Saul Williams? There are no words. Beyond ......
I must put in a word about Afurakan, a young poet I have worked with on various projects with and someone I believe has a great future ahead of him. He had to open the show and set the bar. He was off the hook. I have heard him so many times but Saturday he took it to another level and showed that we do have a voice and relevance as locally based poets. Maybe, one day, we will be allowed more than 3 - 5 mins at Urban Voices, compared to 30 mins to an hour for the internationals.
Funny thing was that there were so many faces that you would never see at a poetry event out because of the internationals. It's like saying that one's truth or words are more important because you are not from South Africa. Hell, that would mean that I should qualify as an international poet because I'm not from here. But I'm just from another African country, around the corner. And I consider myself a part of and representing South African poetry. It's all good. We shall find our place and space. Those who doubted the local poetry movement shall be the ones clamouring to establish their relevance when we reach those heights. And they shall talk about how they contributed to our development because they threw us crumbs once.
The life of an artist is such a funny one. How often do we hear about overnight successes when a person has spent a decade building the profile, working in the trenches, struggling to get their voice heard. And when they finally break that invisible ceiling, they are 'discovered'.
The hustle continues.
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4 comments:
Hey Kojo,
It really tears my heart to pieces the way we are treated as poets,I write because I love to write, it liberates me...but I cant leave off my words like poets of old used to, that is the reason I went to join the private sector as blue collar worker, we must just remember that our struggle is not over it has just changed form and if it means we have to use blogging as a tool of our underground movement so be it....until then ALUTA CONTINUA
Thami, I have reached the space where I do not question or rage against what may be perceived as the 'treatment' of poets. I am breathing, I am healthy and I have the opportunity to write every day. Once in a while (out of choice), I have the opportunity to share those writings. The Word is not a job, it is a passion, an essence, a calling. If it provides some element of sustenance... bonus. But i no longer look to it for survival but rather spiritual, mental and emotional support. Truth be told, there are few old poets who lived solely off their writings and it seems to be a symptom of this commercial and material society we have created that insists that we must live off our Word. In Word We Trust.
That's true
In Word We Trust...
sure napo. just spent last hour trying to figure out the whole RSS thing and discovered that I cannot setup with Feedburner because of problems with Blogger.Com. There is a link that says 'Site Feed'. have no idea whether that is useful. sorry mfowethu, i'll figure it out eventually but doesn't look like it's happening anytime soon. easy
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