A GRADE 2 learner from Port Elizabeth gave young poets across the country a run for their money when he took third place in a recent competition for all South Africans younger than 18.
Children have a way of bypassing the typical adult defences and insecurities that are honed over a lifetime of social censure and schooled instruction.
In philosopher Michael Meade’s words, “Each young person is a poet of sorts, trying to sort out the poetics of their inner life and its relation to the great world around it.”
And so, over Youth Month, AVBOB felt it important to invite young poets to craft poems of comfort for children over this time of uncertainty and instability.
“We challenged our under-18s to reach out to others and provide a measure of hope to hold on to as they are forced to navigate a changed universe. We wanted to listen in to the voices of our young, who are compelled to come of age in a strange new place, a world where their every instinct – to explore and to connect – has been shut down, as they are forced to wear masks, forgo touch, and isolate.
“Our three young winning poets did just that, speaking from a place of authenticity, precocity and prescience,” AVBOB said in a statement.
Lwabelo Bokwana (8) was placed third in AVBOB Poetry’s Youth Month mini-competition, following Letshepo Morelo (14), from Nelspruit, in first place and Juliet Mokgwadi (17), from Mpumalanga, in second.
Lwabelo also received a cash prize of R300.
“This young poet is something of a spelling whizz and loves words for the sheer joy of what they can do. He wrote his poem – his very first – because he felt he had a duty to comfort his peers and remind them that, one day, they will play together again.
“The simplicity and brevity of his poem is deceptive, however, as he manages to pack multiple meanings into just six short lines.”
Strong together
Doctors say we are strong.
Parents say we are a blessing.
Government says we are the future.
Wash your hands, so we can play together again.
Stop touching your eyes, so we can go to school again.
Keep a distance from people, so we can grow.
- Add your voice to the fourth annual AVBOB Poetry Competition, which runs from August 1 to November 30. Visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za to enter.
