Sheila Khala’s Book Launch

Sheila Khala in action

We caught up with Sheila Khala while preparing for her book launch in Lesotho, weeks after launching it first in South Africa, Free State Bloemfontein. The interview is captured below.

LB: In 2009 you published your first book. How has that changed your life as a poet and the lessons you learned?

SK: I published my first book in 2009, that stretched my name locally and internationally. It did change from being only a poet to being an Author also at the age of 19. It really brought so much attention on me,as a result my career as a poet blossomed with benefits of performing on variety of big shows. .

LB: One understands that after launching your first book, Formula you moved to the Free State on academic purposes, how did you find the poetry scene that side?

SK: Free State, Bloemfontein has an enormous crowd of poetry lovers .Their reception and support is a bit ahead from the one here at home. The government recognizes their art even though there’s always a loop hole of unsatisfaction everywhere but also they are ahead

LB: Having been a member of Poetry Farm & hence having obviously performed extensively how has performance poetry shaped your style of writing?

SK: Poetry farm gave me an opportunity on stage,talented and gifted as I am if I didn’t start with poetry farm I don’t think I would be a guru that iv become today. Even though we are not together now they are my family. Well,performing with people like Kgafela Wa Mogogodi a couple of times,Lesego Rampolokeng,David Wa Maahlamela, Napo Masheane, Hector Kunene, Jah Rose,Tania Tome from Mozambique the list is endless, who are also authors sharpened my writing skills as they are all big poets who differ in tastes of poetry,culture, presence. There’s written poetry and stage poetry,that needs to be noted.

LB: Tell us more about your new book,

SK: My new book,it just puts a huge smile on my face. I call it a manifestation of faith, ‘My Pen Is A Socialite’ As its titled is a collection of poems that some are experiences of good and bad times,appreciation of the hands of God,power tool I call love,creation,nature and a huge garden of motivation. Its a super revival. My pen in this case is branches in a tree,my pen my voice,my pen my ink,my pen my authority.

LB: One has observed that you launched your book first in Bloemfontein in the past weeks, and now to be launched in Maseru next week, why is this?

SK: This is a revolutionary book launch to spread my work and my gift extensively, after the 5th April launch in Lesotho I’ll be in Vaal, Limpopo, Durban, Mozambique, Namibia and many others. The pen is yet to affect nations as this year I’m touring Africa and signing my name in places. I,Sheila the queen of poetry I’m writing my name on the heart of Africa because I can.

• Sheila Book launch; ‘My Pen is A Socialte’ will be on April 5th at Ster-kinekor -Maseru (cinema 3). Damage is M50. The launch features Free State poets; Hector Kunene, Jah Rose Nthabiseng Jafta and Lesotho’s Mpho Sefali-Moeketsi. The book features poems like; A prayer to the God of poetry,
Good morning Holy Spirit,When we write poetry,Phenomenal woman,
Breathing dreams and Nna to mention but a few.
Sheila is a former member of Poetry Farm, having joined it in 2007 to 2009.

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

Woman Scream Poem #16 – Clean

You coward
Uncircumcised oaf- You ninny
Margin is your fore and surname;
You tie ropes unknowing-
You wear the mask of polite and decorum-you relenting washed bum,
Intention-twisting scum, nothing but hum-drum to be sung by your clean tongue…

You don’t move you merely stare,
You settle right there for fear of going somewhere/anywhere-
You surrender the nitty-gritty, rendering it spoilt, improper and filthy- what a pity.
In the face of scaled unforgiving demons you jump on immobility and choose nothingness over settling the score- YOU WHORE.

Look at the damaged inflicted by your silence and ignorance.
Dance to the beat-less music of your monotonous tune where you falsely think you are immune to it all-Afraid you will fall from your clean heaven?
What a sad, deplorable delusion.

Clean what do you mean by not wanting to be seen in the thick of the rowdy party and refusing to associate with the oppressed and desperate?
Is your crisp white worthier than the ruin?
Are the dusty feet of soldiers and warriors never right in your eye?
Your cataract-infested eyes that doubles as a spy of that infertile murderer called fear?

Clean language, clean footsteps, clean intentions and clean excruciatingly chilling cries as your world gets ingested by the silent, clean killer-SILENCE.

By: Liatile Mohale

Stop Violence Against Women

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

Woman Scream Poem #15 – Failed Union

“Till death do us part”, in unison they uttered,
Pledged before the priest and the congregation, this bond will never be shuttered,
In that day of ululations, the road ahead seemed golden,
Embarking on a fairy-tale journey, both convinced.

Now memories of that day torment and haunt her spirit,
Remorse dwells within brigades of her heart,
The holy matrimony transfigured into a hurt zone,
Though she depicts a fake smile, her eyes recite the anguish within,
She now coughs hurts and exhales agony.

In-laws dub her names for she fails to bear them grandchildren,
Verbally molested, her tribulations aggravate daily,
Relentlessly made to pay for a deed she has no power over,
No one can argue with what GOD has forecast;

Mother in-law hard at work to get her a substitute,
Corrupting her son’s mind with thoughts of divorce,
The once favorite ‘makoti’ made the community comic relief,
But what if the problem is within her son,
Why is it that women always fall preys and victims of prejudice????

© Letuka “Verbal-Saint” Qabalatsane

Stop Violence Against Women

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

Woman Scream Poem #14 – The Scream

i scream today
that you will remember tomorrow
what i spoke of yesterday
 
I make heard my voice in this moment
and shun conformity behind doors shut,
locked and never to be reopened
 
see i have had enough of the
‘baby that’s how your ancestors lived’
‘maybe you made him mad’ and the classical
‘it won’t happen again’ kinda statements
which have left me shattered and broken over years
of hope bashed into walls together with my face
not only did he break my face,
he shut my very eyes from ever being able to see myself again
 
so this time he hit me in front of my children
he was suppose to be the love of my life
the one who promised me hope and i believe
 
ok, let me back up and tell you my story
sweet 16 draped and wrapped around in a whirlwind
heart throbbing and tongue tying romance
i vowed regardless of my mother’s protests,
daring to declare that she didn’t understand
never understand that this that i was now living was her story
of how i came to be
 
3years later he told me he wanted a 2nd wife
i cried and begged but finally decided
i didnt want him to stay for me
 
19year old mother of two
forbidden by public opinion and
whoever tradition is from returning home
so blood, sweat and tears i scraped my way to a meal a day
and smiles on my babies’ faces
 
then came prince charming; the man of my dreams
promised hope and a future for the children i had born
and myself so relentlesly i ran hard after him
eating hungrily at his every word
little did i know…
 
so eeexxxcuse me if i scream ffor women like myself
with tear stained hearts and dreams shattered beyond hope
 
i take this moment to celebrate mothers and women
for one woman’s story is every woman’s story
some tell of physical scars
but the majority of us hold the unseen
and often ignored brokeness of shattered dreams
     so i scream for their struggle…

By Rethabile Ntereke

Stop Violence Against Women

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

Woman Scream Poem #13 – Death Did Her Part

She found him about his Fathers business
Christ like, light, salt
Eph 5:25 prone
she fell, he fell

cloaked in proverbs 31, sheer perfection
she marches down the aisle
armed with promises of Jeremiah 29:11
good plans, plans to give her a future_he was her future, she says i do

it began a smack across the face and a quickened apology
she don’t scream, she screen
two layers of foundation
we have all fallen short of the glory,
so she forgives

front row seat as he preaches love thy neighbor
front row seat as he kicks her to a miscarriage, Genesis 1:28 momentarily forgotten
still 70 times 7 times she wills to forgive

For better or worse
she clings to her word, to the Word
Hosea 2:19, betrothed to him forever
he forgets his word, cuts his own flesh;
broken ribs, blue eyes, bruise prints, stitches
she retaliates, in kind, tender-hearted, forgiving his inequities, as Christ did hers

Guarded in her spirit
unwilling to separate what God has brought together
she stuck to her end of Eph 5:22
in a union void of 1Corinthians 13:4
she hangs on a tree in the backyard of his dream home, till death did her part!

By Thato Toeba

Stop Violence Against Women

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

World Poetry Day – Interview with Tumelo Khoza ( of Cup O’ Thought)

World Poetry Day comemoration in Durban

The following is a short electronic interview the administrators of the Lyrical Bacteria (LB) blog had with Tumelo Khoza (TK) of Cup O’ Thought.

LB: Recently one has seen the emergence of Cup O’ Thought slam poetry sessions in Durban. What necessitated the formation of these sessions?

TK: Last year I travelled to some provinces in the country, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Eastern Cape in the pursuit of finding inspiration in places outside of home, out of my comfort zone, and I did. I returned home and my mate Thando Mlambo and had already had a vision of one day creating a platform for poetry to meet and inspire each other. That is how Cup O’ Thought came about. The collaboration between an events co-ordinator and a poet. Cup O’ Thought will run on the 1st Saturday of every Month as from April at Alliance Francaise in Durban. This collaboration with AF began in January this year. Poetry Africa has joined in, we run the monthly slam as a build up to the Slam Jam which will take place in October during the International Poetry Africa Festival.

LB: In the past decade,how has the state of poetry been in Durban/ KZN?

TK: It has progressed in ways that cannot be explained. I started attending sessions at the Bat Centre in Durban when I was 15, looking up to poets such as Mputlane wa Bofelo, Rose Makhosi, Coolfire Hadebe, Zorro, Miracle and so many more. Since, the youth of that time have added branches to the poe_tree, creating opportunities for the generation after us to perform and share their poetry as the generation before us did so in the past.

LB: what role do you think schools and institutions have to play to help make a poetry sphere thrive and be successful?

TK: There are sessions which take place both in high schools and tertiary institutions. It seems poetry is a remedy for the youth. It gives them/us an opportunity to use language, be it English or Nguni to address social issues and express/share probable solutions to the predicaments that society faces.

LB: How do you think poetry collectives and movements in the SADC region can join hands to improve the state of poetry in the region?

TK: I believe they can assist in ensuring that poetry is taken to places where this craft is scarcely given the chance to bloom. They can help take poetry to the people who need to hear it the most.

LB: What are the main challenges of organizing poetry events and thus far how have you tackled some of those issues?

TK: Finances are a predicament at time, we are still seeking stable sponsorship. But things are happening, slowly, and more doors are opening that’s a good thing, progression sure is something worth being grateful for.

LB: What do you think is the significance of celebrating World Poetry Day?

TK: We’ll be blessed with local talent from hip hop artist Keynotez Bazooka and his band Ground Zhero, 5 poetry from Durban High School who call themselves The Tribe and singer/poet Phumzile Zondo, along with that awesome lineup we’ll have a guest poet who’ll be featured, from the International Time of the Writer Festival, and we’ll have the monthly slam as the cherry on top. World Poetry Day will be celebrated in full swing today in Durban. We’re looking forward to being the fertile soil in which more inspiration is planted

~The End~

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

World Poetry Day – The State of Poetry in Lesotho

” Poetry in Lesotho is like a wave, it flactuates according to season and time. Maybe better put as orgasm, it hits a high at a certain push and can be invariant of time. We are at a time where the poetry movement is very low. There is a small number of mainline poets and those that were have seized to be. We are at a point that we as poetry organizations are trying to exert that push that will put in a high and maintain it there. Nonetheless, since the years 2005 or earlier poetry has grown to be appreciated and understood in Lesotho. Today more poets are writing books, recording albums, making poetry events. The only alarming issue is that as the old mature and put their work together, there are no young ones born, this is most definitely a path to extinction. Our efforts today are to escape this.” – Peter Mahase, Director at Poetry Farm

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

World Poetry Day – Interview with Sbulelo Jele Sbu J ( Swaziland )

The following electronic interview was between this blog’s administrator and Sbulelo Jele Sbu J representing Rooted Soulz, a poetry collective/movement in Swaziland.

LB : sir, as a poet in Swaziland, could you just describe the Swaziland poetry sphere for the past decade?

RS: Poetry in the last decade has begun to gain recognition although at a slow pace. To most people their only interaction with poetry was during school where poetry is taught under the umbrella of prose literature but over the years there has been the emergence of poetry organizations (Rooted Soulz included) which have facilitated the growth of poetry through organizing all over the country and making show in every high profile event there is at least a performance by a poet. In a nutshell Poetry is reaching to a lot people gradually so.

LB: In Swaziland how well is poetry appreciated and thus what role do you think poetry plays in the country, especially in times when the country is facing financial and political problems?

RS: The role of Poetry in the socio-political arena is a vital one. In as much as we aim to conscientise the people on the status quo in the country we try to impart strong messages to emancipate the people’s minds. We trying to achieve a generation of thinkers. In as much as poetry can entertain one has pick a valuable life lesson

LB: In celebrating World Poetry Day, what achievements as poets will you be celebrating in Swaziland? Also what is the significance of this day in Swaziland’s poetry sphere?

RS: In celebrating World Poetry Day we are not celebrating any achievements but rather celebrating the Poetry itself whereby poets from all over the Kingdom will gather and share poetry just for the love of it. For Swaziland World Poetry Day marks yet another leap in the growth of this artform

LB: how do you believe as the SADC region poets/poetry movements we can work together in contributing to the growth of poetry in the region?

RS: The forming of alliances between poetry organisations across the SADC region is of fundamental importance for the main reason accelarating the growth of poetry as well a cultural exchange and also strengthening ties between the countries as well as promoting tourism. In my own words,Poetry is the thread that stiches together the fabrics of society

~The End~

• Rooted Soulz will today hold World Poetry Day Commemoration at Alliance Francaise from 10am to 12 noon

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

World Poetry Day – Poets Blog Interviews extracts

The following extracts were taken from the Poets Blog interviews that were published in the Weekly Mail newspaper and on the first Poetry Farm blog

Liatile Mohale
“
Q: Do you think we need more poetry groups in the country?

A: We don’t necessarily need more poetry groups rather what we need to do is to focus on improving what’s already in existence. This is to say let us pay heed to minor things like styles of poetry and stage management our groups offer. In this manner we will be able to attain growth “

Black Candle

“
Q: What do you think of the state of poetry in the country and what do you think can be done to enhance it?

A: we need sponsors, and once we get these,even those in the dark will come out, and at the same time avoid exploitation of poets, which happens usually when poets go to shows, perform, and come back empty handed! “

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.

 

World Poetry Day – My Poets’ Quotes

These are some three quotes from different poets I found to be relevant today

” A great poet … must have the ear of a wild Arab listening in the silent desert, the eye of a North American Indian tracing the footsteps of an enemy upon the leaves that strew the forest, the touch of a blind man feeling the face of a darling child.
“
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge

”To take part in the African revolution, it is not enough to write a revolutioary song; you must fashion the revolution with the people. And if you fasion it with the people, the songs will come by themselves and of themselve.”- Sekou Toure.

” Afurakan:  Performance poetry brings life to the written word. It adds depth to ones writing and also helps your work reach more people by adding the entertainment element. If poetry is going to reach people, it also needs to entertain them.” – Afurakan Thabiso Mohare

“Let poetry be the bliss of Life, then humanity will know true meaning of smile” – Poloko Lesuoa

-::Lyrical Bacteria::-.