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Leroy Dzenga Lifestyle Writer
Among the literary avenues utilised in Zimbabwe, page poetry has been among the most common.
Used by different thinkers to express their innermost feelings, it is the art that gave the nation legends Mordecai Hamutyinei, Professor Kizito Muchemwa and in the more contemporary sense the likes of Philani Nyoni.
Although their approaches and nuances differ, the expressive value of written poetry has been a way a nation`s diverse narratives is captured (and beautifully held captive for ages till end) in a coherent way.
Young Christians have also pursued the same path in capturing their devotion through written words, what others have called worship poetry.
South Africa based poet Jurgen Troy Namupira (22) recently released a 25 poem anthology entitled “House of Grace” in which he was building his spiritual staircase by way of word and poetry.
His writing style borrows from the simplicity carried in most Bible scriptures.
For a message whose intention is to convert and inspire many, complexities would have diluted the core message.
Easy to digest and compressed into compact pieces Namupira’s poetry is structured for diverse from those with an elementary appreciation of reading to sophisticated consumers of written works. An example of his uncomplicated but impactful writing can be seen in his poem “One Moment” which carries the following verse;
“Gimme the floor
I’ll create a melody,
Along with me
They will strike chords,
And a new dance
The audience will perform”
As a way of staying in line with the principles that guide Christians, Nyamupira deliberately put in place scriptural references on the same pages as each of his poems.
“Each poem is preceded by a Biblical scripture to edify the religious taste within each poem. These came as an effort to make the collection a tool for Bible study,” says Nyamupira.
To him the book is an unconventional method to preach.
“Poetry to me is a form of communication, which automatically becomes a medium of preaching. So I wrote the book with the intentions to preach whilst entertaining at the same time,” Nyamupira says.
One feels the poems could be tighter, especially on the alliteration on some of his pieces. After all every work has room for chiselling.
In one of his verses in the piece titled “The Power of Love,” he repeatedly uses the same word to start nine out of ten lines. He repeats the same approach in his poem “One Moment” where the phrase “I need” is employed to start lines six out of nine times, in the same verse.
It is a curious style of writing which borders on monotony if not handled with finesse. For a debut book, the anthology shows room for improvement.
Ease of publishing has brought to fore questionable page poets but Jurgen Namupira seems to be on a mission to become a reckonable Christian writer.
The good thing, he did not try to write himself into a maze like most overambitious newbie writers. He writes instead from his deep soul.
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