Shambie Mpho:
Identity crisis has always defined me. I was born Mpho Victor Moropane (my
great-grandfather's surname who raised me) in the bundus of South Africa, at a village called
Shatale in Bushbuckridge. My bioligical father's surname is Sedibe yet later on
I became Dibakoane (my step-father's son) and that was the parental rejection I
went through all my life. No one really wanted to take responsibility of me.
Consequently I became deeply critical of life and started questioning God. I am
a University of Cape Town drop-out (1994 doing a
Bachelor of Arts in preparation for a law degree), but have always been a
writer from as early as 6 years (since I was an introvert, writing became my
voice and an outlet to vent). I have sporadically published some of my poetry
pieces and have performed alongside great poets and artists like Don Mattera,
Dennis Brutus (late), Nadine Gordimer (late), Mafika Gwala, Robert Berold,
Kgafela oa Magogodi, Lesego Rampolokeng etc.
DV: Is poetry an important part of South African
culture? How did you personally get started writing poetry?
SM: Poetry, though not fully supported as seriously as
it should be, is a very important part of the South African culture. I first
became more interested in it during the apartheid era, sneaking into halls to
listen to local poets recite pieces of Mtubaruka, Don Mattera, Langston Hughes,
Can Themba, Casey Motsitsi, Ruyard Kipling, Allan Patton, Dambudzo Marechera
etc.I believe that's when I really felt profoundly captured and hypnotised by
how hard-hitting and magical the spoken word is! It became both spiritually and
mentally fulfilling (as though an internal void has finally been filled!), it
was so deep and inborn that I could hardly go a day without penning something
poetic, just to get rid of the permanent bug inside! So yes, I guess that's how
I started, during the apartheid years in the late eighties (88/89), in my early
teens.
DV: I'm surprised that long-dead poets like the
American Langston Hughes or the British "imperialist" Rudyard
Kipling, who is best known for his stories about India, made such a profound
impression on your early years. What do you think, poetically speaking, you
have taken from these Western writers?
SM: Well, I believe that the love of your art would
have you raising ghosts and digging into graves to search for lost meaning, and
trying to patch up the past with the present, so you could map out the future!
I guess stumbling into these classic poets was unintentional, it happened that
with a mind always occupied by my craft, also being an avid reader (from food
to basketball) I came across the writings of these powerful poets and I could
not have asked for more! I remember IF (by Rudyard Kipling) and Good Morning
Revolution (by Langston Hughes) both left an indelible mark in my psyche, and
reading their works further taught me to remain myself in my writings, to be
the writer that I am without self-censorship, to remain original in my quest to
find my voice! Perhaps, to even reflect things as I see them without fear and
not present them the way I think people should see them! Again, to be honest
with my feelings without fear and to balance them with thought! It would be
unfair not to also mention Robert Frost!
DV: Before we move on, what would you like to say
about Frost?
SM:
Yes, I also felt attached to Frost's work, especially the poem The Road Not
Taken. I found him both deeply spiritual in that particular poem, and witty.
There's something in his writings that feels yonder and poignant yet
therapeutic! I rate him as one of the greatest poets I've ever read, besides
the Pulitzer Prizes and his association with the great publicist Ezra Pound! He
is definitely one of my earliest influences from my elementary years!
DV: A lot of your childhood parallels my own. Reading was always a highway to somewhere
else, and writing allowed me to create that "somewhere" or at least
locate it. Can you remember the first thing you wrote? I'm not asking if you
can recite it from memory, but what did it feel like to do it?
SM: Yes I do! It was similar to a piece I once read by Don Mattera, a question
directed to God, asking Him not to cry when I take off my shirt to expose my
internal wounds...for who wants a wailing God? It was an innocent childish
piece but very heartfelt because it reflected my whole feelings consolidated as
one. After each and every piece I wrote henceforth, I felt the release of a
burden and the warm sensation of toxins released! Very peaceful and
rejuvenating!
DV: That must have been about 15 years ago. In the time that has elapsed
since then, what have you learned about the craft of writing poetry? Do you
still get the same kick as when you wrote that one?
SM: Well, I have done a lot of things in my life
workwise, from odd jobs to office work (Dept. of Justice), but all along in my
work I find myself reciting the process! There is no way that I'll do a thing
without feeling its rhythm and pulse, to the detriment of its progress in
record time. I'll then subconsciously look beyond the product, deep into its
heartbeat, which means I don't finish on time since I hold on to the song in it
that only I can hear and the beauty that only I can see! In everything I do or
come across I see beauty, be it mortuary trays to nature and its vegetation! I
can safely say I am more conscious of my surroundings than ever before, which
means I draw more inspiration from society than I used to. And that urges me to
reflect, and the only way I know how is through poetry! Which means I am
more poetic than ever before!
DV: That sound like a very
mystical way of being. You said that you were skeptical of religion when poetry
entered your soul. So I wonder: what is your attitude towards God, and do you
think it affects your writing?
SM: You know, growing up you go through a lot of processes that leave you with
more questions than answers; my skepticism towards God was as a result of those
processes. I believe it was a stage where I realised there really was
"someone"above us, someone bigger than us, but that someone seemed
silent to my situation and the injustices meted out to me! And I gathered from
people around me that the guy in charge of us and life was named God. Yet
people seemed not to question Him, instead they glorified Him even in their pain;
fine, I also will glorify Him...but He needed to answer me after all the
dancing is done! I believed in my tiny mind that I stuck to my end of the deal,
but this big guy seemed stubborn to respond! So I wrote Him letters cause I
thought maybe talk is cheap or perhaps I was too quick in prayer for God to
grasp what I meant. But as I grew up I began to see and understand that God was
actually beside me all along, talking, answering, saving and blessing me in
ways different from my expectations! I also learned that I have been looking
for Him in wrong places when He was actually living in me, He was always here,
full of humour! And now He's my friend, more like a tag-team I guess.
DV: Has this relationship informed your writing in any specific, concrete sort
of way?
SM: Yes it has, to the extent that I meditate and talk to God before and after
writing any piece. There are feelings I have and things I see that I think are
deeper than what the eye could see, things so profound it can only be a
superior power directing me to them. As a result, I recently wrote more than 10
poems either saluting or casually conversing with God, in our own little space!
Yes, God has become the bigger part of my craft, though I think He sometimes
wishes me to shut up just for once! I think I talk too much...lol!
DV: What are your other
main sources of inspiration?
SM: Just life in general inspires me. But I seem to perform better under pain!
I seem to reflect pain better than joy, maybe because pain is all I know for
the better part of my life! Though I do talk about the beauty of life, I mostly
find it fake and I hate fakes! In a nutshell, I am more inspired by hardships.
DV: I think most writers of poetry would agree with you. Most poems seem to be
about broken hearts and deaths, and I suppose broken hearts are a form of
emotional death. And love poems -- but these are usually neurotic
wish-fulfillments rather than odes to domestic bliss. It's hard to find happy
poets or successful happy poems not intended to be humorous. What about your
work schedule? Do you write every day, or keep a journal? Are you a hard-core
reviser of your work, or more of a one-take artist?
SM: Exactly, you have amplified my thoughts and feelings...neatly summed them
up! Brokenness define us! Yes, depending on my mental set-up, I would ideally
write every day. Sometimes I do, sometimes I just observe to get a clearer
picture of things, until I put words and meaning to it. I have my poetry
journal, that I've been keeping for years, tattered but priceless! Every
jolting feeling I have, I put pen on paper. I can't really move from being a
poet to a critic or teacher or something. Though I have opinions and at times
feel to advise, I seem to be stuck in my own shell, unless someone approaches
for help which I may have, I remain in my poetic cocoon!
DV: Your comments and responses to what is published here would certainly be
welcome! I guess we are close to the end of this session. Is there anything you
would like to say to the readers of this blog?
SM: I guess for starters, I would like to thank you Duane, for affording us the
platform to reach a broader audience through our poetry! I believe that it is
through platforms like these that we are able to interact with fellow writers
and poets and exchange ideas, cultural backgrounds etc, on a larger scale. I
also would like more poets to come on board and remain active in reading and
criticising other people's work, so we can grow and learn more. Poetry is a
mission not a competition. We are the mirrors of society. Through it we build,
destroy, expose, heal, incite, curb, you name it. To some of us it's even
therapy, an outlet to vent either anger (pain) or joy! Let's just remain
focused and vigilant in rooting out and correcting the ills of society. The
world depends on us, we are the voice for the voiceless, if the voiceless need
a voice. Our impact lasts forever.
