Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Bittersweet Poetry : Poems of the week by Simon Mwila ,Isunge Mwanagase and Luka Mwango

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As we continue to promote Poetry in Zambia ; here are this weeks poems ,enjoy.

POETRY by Isunge Mwangase

Brewing a good poem takes time,

Doesn’t matured whiskey taste better

On the rocks or with cordial lime?

Even a love matured is sweeter

 

Poetry is not about using fancy words,

Though one might employ one or two

For it leads to many roads:

Emotions, memories- experiences too

 

Most mistake poetry for the canvas

But is not, It is the journey,

The clay being mould into a vase,

The process of making the honey

 

It isn’t alone the protagonist,

It’s every one behind the scenes,

The chemical reaction not the catalyst

Nor the song but why one sings

 

Poetry is untying a gordian knot simply,

Its teaching angels how to fly,

Nothing like a show of Mr. Ripley,

Its the tears of joy God would cry.

 

AGAIN by Simon Mwila

If in an instant your life flashed before your eyes..

would u gasp for breath to live again?

 

If your loved one grew distant, your relationship stood in quicksand..

Would u put your heart out there to love again?

 

If you looked in the mirror, felt disgusted by your body..

Would you build walls to shut out everybody?

 

Walls that hide, walls that bind..

Walls will imprison your soul, your mind..

 

Do you stand up for friends? Do you have backbone,

or do you hold needless grudges, resentful & bitter taking their pain as your own?

 

When you feel neglected or worse still rejected..

Do you seek solace, do you hide your face or worse still do you hold on to pain and look for someone to blame?

 

Life is unpredictable and the love of men more so..

But i have found one to whom i entrust my soul..

 

My Spirit is not broken, even though my heart may be..

The world may have changed me but not who i want to be..

 

If i’m the Architect of my own destiny & my concept is De Javu..

Then its pointless to go through the same pain without moving on only to say “hey i know you..”

 

Almost all things are loss, there’s not much to gain..

If life seems worthless why do anything Again?

 

Hope, A Second chance, he that lost has gained..

Forget the heartbreaks, forget the shame..

Forget the panic, forget the pain..

If i had another life, I would be me AGAIN.

 

The Paradox (A love child of poetry and prose) by Luka Mwango

It’s past three in the morning and a battle wages on. The sleep pulls me on one side and the pen on the other, like a soul in purgatory I stand in the middle. Slumber says I’ve neglected her, while the pen craves the creative apologetic swimming in my head. Sleep flirts with me using self-gratification, while the pen shouts vocation:

“Luka, they need you—the dejected, the lost, the abused, the hurting. They need you to tell their story.”

So I become a student of emotions, using the prudence of Godly wisdom and the foresight bestowed on me to formulate 3-dimessional constructs. I am betrothed to hurt, our courtship a study in patience. I am married to disappointment, our vows the premise of poems and stories that my fingers pen.

Faces speak to me when mouths stop—eyes bark, eyebrows scream, ears whisper, noses complain and facial muscles do it all and more.

“Inspector Mwango,” they call me, “please solve this mystery.” The tears are but only a clue and the heart the victim…stabbed with the blade of betrayal.

To hell with Alice and her wonderland, on this blissful earth that many claim is marred with boredom, I find an ironic utopia—flawed yet still delightful.

See not the engulfing darkness but the small lamp that fights with such gallantry, for such is the Human Condition!!

By Kapa187

4 COMMENTS

  1. No.1: This is trashy hip-hop rhymes masquerading as poetry. It is pretentious for a novice to write about poetry.  What is this name-dropping about Mr Ripley?  Why not write about something else?!
    No. 2: Good effort.  Nice rhymes, nice imagery; although you lost it somewhere in the middle.  Use of “worse still” twice in one stanza is a no-no. You may have talent!
    No. 3: Trying to be clever?  This prose poses as a poem. I am not sure about all these second hand phrases – “self-gratification”, “formulate”, “3-dimensional constructs”, “human condition” etc etc ad nauseam. Neither big words nor big phrases mean talent.

  2. Anti- Kaponya, the first one to me does not at all sound trashy as you put it. Poetry is in many forms and Hip- hop is a kind of poetry. Before we criticize we ought to understand he topic. Hip hop is lyrical and poetry comes in Ballads, Hymns, Lyrics… So its not a bad write. Its very good and creative because Amateur or not, anyone has the right to describe anything in their point of view.

    With the second, basically what I have said, poetry is in many forms, It a good write. The pyramids where not erected in a day and these guys are in the right direction

    With the 3rd, dont look for reasons to criticize, he is not being clever, he is explaining what he has written. Dont assume he was evading harsh criticism with the title

    Keep it up guys!!!!!1

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