malvernmugadzikwa
Society Reporter
PROLIFIC writer and poet Fabian Choto is one of the major contributors in the recently released poetry anthology titled “Dancing in the Dust”.
In the anthology, Choto contributed poems such as “Something to Say,” Scriptural Truth,” “My Princess and “Song and Dance”.
The title of the anthology was taken off Perpetual Mutembo Gonese’s poem, “The Dance”.
Award-winning publisher, Aleck Kaposa, of Essential Books, compiled and edited the anthology.
More than 20 poets contributed to the anthology’s 100 poems.
In the anthology, dancing is a recurrent theme, with Gift Sakarai, Gonese and Choto all coming up with poems whose themes are based on dancing.
Choto’s poem, “Something to Say”, is a “poem within a poem” in which the poet expresses his desire to speak and to be heard.
The poem read in part:
A writer, I am
A poet
Poet of the people
I have issues to address
Very important issues surely
Issues to put on board.
Listen attentively and analyse
And I assure you with certainty
That you will get the gist of the story
In “Scriptural Truth” Choto writes about the hope and faith in Jesus.
He also talks about servanthood in Christian life.
“Song and Dance” is full of rhyming words and other poetic effects.
In “Nyadzonia” Simbarashe Kavenga tearfully narrates the liberation war massacres of innocent people at Chimoio, Nyavonde, Tembwe, Nyadzonia and Mkushi, among other liberation war camps.
Tracy Masocha came up with an intriguing love poem titled “Maybe you should just know”.
In the poem, the author writes about someone who is madly in love with someone who, unfortunately, does not have the same feelings.
“I loved you,
Every inch of my body,
My mind and my soul
Believed in this idea
The idea of forever with you,
The idea of one bed for two
Now!
I am watching you going
I cannot stand you being gone
It is hard negotiating with this pain.
For Choto, 2023 was a fruitful year in which he contributed to five Shona and English anthologies.
“2023 was my year. Having one’s works published in five anthologies is no mean feat,” Choto, who is also a police officer, said.
Online Reporter