Andrew
Book Review
Edmore Zvinonzwa
POETRY is a unique genre of literature that artists use to express their inner emotions.
English verse, for instance, went through different phases, wherein the writers’ inner feelings were expressed through a number of stylistic devices like rhyme, rhythm, metaphors, imagery and similes.
The romantics celebrated nature in their poetry.
We see this in poetry that emerged from both the Victorian and Elizabethan periods.
In other countries, especially Anglophone Africa, poetry was used to protest colonial rule, giving birth to what was later known as “protest poetry”.
In Zimbabwe, for example, during the liberation war, protest poetry became very popular with writers like Chenjerai Hove, Musaemura Zimunya, Kizito Muchemwa and Muderei Kadhani, among others.
The writers frowned upon unfavourable race relations and oppression that came with colonialism.
In other words, the poetry that emerged then had all to do with the national cause.
Later, everything changed as independence brought a new trajectory for emerging poets.
For instance, United Kingdom-based teacher Beritha Muzondo’s poetry, contained in the collection titled “Little Book of Love and Hope: Poems From a Cancer Survivor” published by Wholeness Incorporated, explores different issues altogether.
Dedicated to her late parents, the collection, which has nine sections containing a total of 60 poems, explores her journey following her diagnosis with aggressive cancer in 2017.
The poetry in the collection begins with the importance of knowing oneself, a process that can only be achieved through self-introspection.
“Who Are You” and “You are Beautiful” are about this.
Perhaps the most critical section in the collection are the nine poems in Part 5, the agony process, which explores the pain that cancer sufferers go through.
However, Beritha seeks to show that despite the pain, there is need to be resilient.
“Fear does not stop us from dying, but it stops us from living,” she writes.
She says one has to remain strong despite the physical and emotional pain.
The poet also says through writing, she got the chance to appreciate the power of relationships with family, friends and acquaintances, a situation that cultivates hope in cancer sufferers.
She counsels that the bad situations we may be in must not dictate how we live on a daily basis.
“Circumstances do not define you
But how you respond to them does
So think carefully about how to respond to each circumstance
Everyone’s journey is different
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And only you can deal with yours in the best way
Don’t be too hard on yourself
Just do the best you can
Things get better with time
So hang on in there
Live each day the best way you can,” reads one of the poems.
The simple language that she uses makes her poetry easily understood.
Her major thrust is to tell readers that cancer diagnosis does not signal the end of the road.
Through her philanthropic work, she has been able to see her purpose in life again, making her cancer journey worth celebrating.
“At the peak of my journey, I faced extreme challenges both physically and emotionally, and founded a charitable organisation, Women of Valiance (WOV),” she said.
WOV seeks to bring women together to motivate and inspire them as they fundraise for the education of disadvantaged children.
While she has been struggling with her illness behind closed doors, Beritha says “writing and organising events for WOV gave me a sense of purpose and helped me to endure the pain I was going through. This helped me develop a sense of resilience.”
During the period she has been undergoing treatment — chemotherapy, radiotherapy and several surgeries — Beritha suffered a lot but did not let the pain destroy her spirit.
Online Reporter