VETERAN journalist Golden Guvamatanga’s just-published debut poetry collection titled, Let the Children Make a Wish, is a good example of what is often termed constructive patriotism.
For the most part anchored on November 2017 — when a military intervention by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces forced the resignation of President Robert Mugabe after 37 years in power — this colourful poetry collection is essentially about fulfilling the promise of a better and prosperous Zimbabwe.
The main poem, Let The Children Make a Wish, from which the poetry collection borrows its name, underscores the importance of Zimbabweans themselves setting the development agenda for Zimbabwe.
In other words, the realisation of a promise of a better Zimbabwe rests squarely in the hands of Zimbabweans, particularly young ones.
Part of the poem ‘Let the Children Make a Wish’ reads:
“When word finally comes out that in their tender hands
Now resides eternity,
The pulse of the nation, land and identity,
Their sky growing sprightly wings that shroud their souls,
Finally supplanting the cold of their penury-infested lives.
If they emerge from the grim reality
Of their resolve to be the true children of the struggle
And take a hefty leaf from the shackles
Of poverty to the cusps of eternal bliss
And deftly navigate the jungles of yesterday’s agonies.
“To tomorrow’s enduring merriment.”
Another key poem in the collection that brings into view Guvamatanga the patriot is ‘Independence Day and the Journey Yonder.’ Among other things, in this poem he underlines the importance of forging action as opposed to mere platitudes.
Part of the poem reads:
“Some stories, howsoever few,
Are meant to be engraved and lived the way they were born.
Such is embracing never to extinguish the people’s flame,
To nimbly carve the foundations of dreams,
Foster and maintain them on the same pedestal
To compulsively put words, and pledges into action:
We did together and we will do it again as one people
Proudly walk this land bearing the scars of the past
That its wound has its own story, we cure it together
That none amongst ourselves, the leaders and the led
Will deviate from the cause, and course…”
Though for the most part the poetry in this debut collection is optimistic and positive, Guvamatanga’s constructive patriotism does not turn a blind eye to missteps and misdeeds that undermine the fulfilment of the liberation promise.
As one reads through several poems in this collection, you get a feeling that the poet doesn’t believe that those who fought for our independence, and ordinary people for that matter, have got their deserved reward yet.
In another related poem titled ‘On the edge’ Guvamatanga pays homage to the ‘unknown soldier’ signifying the simple men and women who selfishly bore the brunt of the arduous liberation struggle that brought about our liberation struggle.
In simple terms, Guvamatanga exhorts us to give a more befitting deference to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National Heroes Acre.
“Suddenly it struck us that none amongst ourselves knew who he was,
That in a few seconds he would be another unknown soldier,
Lying out there in the wilderness, in agonising solitude.
‘He is a hero,’ said another comrade in our unit whose
Name also we did not know…”
This train of thought-of unrecognised and uncherished heroes-also runs through the poem ‘Children of the struggle’ which paints a graphic image of how many decades on, those who fought for our freedom are still weighed down by a national independence that is yet to deliver its promise:
“About their waning hope, about why they refuse
To be buried again, and dreams deferred,
About if their visions will ever morph
Into glittering reality of their time and times to come
About when their blood and tears
Will water the green lush of their parched land
About when their brooding silence
Will echo again all over right through to high offices.
About when they shall be real heroes again,
Reconnecting with other children of the struggle.’
This collection of poems, edited by award-winning writer and academic Memory Chirere and award-winning journalist, poet, and literary critic Onai Mushava, is much more than about politics. It tackles just about everything including deferred dreams, the ghetto and even love.
There are several love poems, namely ‘A dance for Tomorrow,’ ‘When First We Met,’ ‘Love Knows No Fear’ and ‘The Colour of Love,’ which are all dedicated to one Nyarie.
Guvamatanga has delivered an inspiring debut poetry collection which will no doubt be part of the conversation in Zimbabwe’s literary circles, and deservedly so!
Dakarai mashava
