The black speech (Hard copy)

This is a great poet with a great collection of mouthwatering poems.

Hence in this collection of poems – an oeuvre and body of work ranging in focus from themes of romantic love, male contrition at lost love, condemnation of poverty and social injustice, a rejection of racism and an affirmation of our common humanity to a celebration of the life and work of author Bessie Head whom he describes as a ‘woman ahead of her time’ and whose words and writings will continue to resonate future generations even after she herself has long departed this world – the reader will find that there is something for everyone, lessons to be gleaned from the poet as teacher and conscience of his society, by all and sundry, from different walks of life.

For instance, in a piece simply entitled ‘Take No life, Life Goes On’ rages in condemnation of male violence against loved ones such as in the spate of so-called ‘passion killings’ which have in recent years threatened to become a common and worrying feature of our modern and solitary lives as young people increasingly find themselves detached and alienated from their traditional and social roots and thus abandoned to their own devices in dealing with their own relationship issues and challenges.

In another piece which he has called ‘Realistic Poverty,’ he insists that poverty is not ‘culture’ (or any one’s ordained way of life) but a life condition that needs to be tackled head-on through self-help and international cooperation between nations such as that which is embodied in the spirit of the UN itself - which he in fact lauds as the anchor of such int’l cooperation and solidarity amongst nations in a piece entitled ‘The World as One.The author also talks about the importance and primacy of a good education (‘Go To School’) and overcoming adversity and finding renewed faith and hope in the ordinary things in life (‘Flying Without Wings’)

‘Suffer Not the Little Children’ is a plea for society to respect the rights of children (‘little angels,’ as he calls them) and not to subject them to the horrors of child labour, recruitment as child soldiers and other forms of untold abuse which we often hear about in the news.

The cry of a refugee displaced from their home countries through war and other forms of civil strife is capture in a poem entitled ‘Refugee Tears.’ One could just imagine what it might be like for scores of refugees from neighbouring countries who live in camps such as our own UN-aided Dukwi Refugee Camp. In this respect, the author is in fact giving voice to the voiceless and many unsung heroes of our continent.

And this is certainly a book worth reading for it provides us with the right coordinates as we navigate our increasingly complex world of economic modernization and cultural globalization.