In support of Pussy (Riot)
Archive for the 'Reflections' Category
No escape
We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.
- Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker
The Present
I wanted to give you something —
no stone, clay, bracelet,
no edible leaf could pass through.
Even a molecule’s fragrance by then too large.
Giving had been taken, as you soon would be.
Still, I offered the puffs of air shaped to meaning.
They remained air.
I offered memory on memory,
but what is memory that dies with the fallible inks?
I offered apology, sorrow, longing. I offered anger.
How fine is the mesh of death. You can almost see through it.
I stood on one side of the present, you stood on the other.
Jane Hirshfield: Come, Thief
Dance Zimbabwe
Kubatana goes Inside/Out with Brian Geza
Photo by Fungai Tichavangana
Kubatana recently went Inside/Out with Brian Geza, dancer, choreographer and boozer soccer player!
What does your background experience in choreography and dance consist of?
My transformation from being a dancer to a choreographer includes moving from being a Tumbuka dancer to choreography.
Describe yourself in five words?
Sociable, fun loving and friendly.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Never take shortcuts in life.
What are the most important elements that somebody can get out of choreography and dance?
Thought provoking moments that can invoke debate.
Brian, what is your major source of inspiration?
My late father and mother.
What is your most treasured possession?
My family.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
When my freedom of expression is blocked.
Do you have any strange hobbies?
Yes, I play boozers soccer.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My potbelly.
What is your greatest fear?
Fear of the unknown.
What were you like at school?
Besides being talkative I was an average student.
What are you doing next?
Keep on keeping on with my work.
Contenders and Pretenders to the throne
Zimbabwe has been a source of fascination for many from scholars to pseudo-intellectuals to lay analysts who turn kombis into their offices as they pontificate about what went wrong, what should be done and only succeed in making fools of themselves. Some writers have gone as far as “analyzing” presidential candidates of the coming polls, gazing into their own crystal balls (there I said it, balls) profiling them and attempting to provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of these men for whom politics is a career. Bollocks, I say. Here is my own take on some candidates. Those who don’t appear here have been deliberately left out!
Robert Mugabe: Bob ain’t your uncle
Morgan Tsvangirai: Idiot
Welshma Ncube: Cretin
Simba Makoni: Clown
Job Sikhala: Anarchist
Paul Siwela: Walter Mitty
