Ephraim Keoreng
6 November 2008
opinion
Poetry is an art form that one uses to give their emotions and opinions a voice. A poet unleashes emotions gathered in time, letting them gush out as he or she tries to make statements about an issue, be it of national or personal concern.
Sharief Fakier, a 17-year-old student, is a poet. Unlike most Botswana poets who go as far as taking the microphone and harping their poems in public before audiences, he writes and publishes his works.
It is a good thing, for both posterity and most importantly documenting one's feelings and sharing with the reading public those ethos and thoughts. But then, others will tell you it is expensive to get your poems published into a book. They argue that poetry; especially one compressed into a book, will hardly put food on the table here in Botswana.
Not every reader is keen to buy an anthology, so they say, and there is a ring of truth in that. But despite this challenge, Fakier is undaunted and continues to publish his works. His latest, Restless Bird, is his third offering. Last year he published Blueprint of my Heart and Soul. From all his works one thing about this young writer stands out. He oozes a lot of passion. Every subject he addresses, you are made to feel the tone of passion.
In Restless Bird, there are poems like Glorious home in which he focuses the reader's attention on the home. He emphasizes the importance of one's home.
It is the place where you can always be assured of finding love, a sanctuary that protects you from the rigours of life. In this poem the poet went for the home, a subject that everyone identifies with, to talk about its role in our lives.
He ingeniously engages the reader, bringing him or her on board. Reading this poem makes one feel the emotions coarse through them as they think about their homes, where they grew up and the safety and love that have always defined their homes.In the other poem, Respite, the poet creates a situation between the poetic persona and fear, which here, is given human qualities.
The fear that we know, the one that always makes you want to doubt yourself every time it strikes. The poet here says it is important that people do not give in to fear especially when they have set goals to achieve. Fakier's writing is largely philosophical and provokes you to look into your feelings about issues around you. He helps his reader to develop an awareness about their immediate social environment.
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