Poet stands up for the voiceless
United Kingdom- based poet Gertrude Kadzuwa continues to tackle issues affecting society using poetry. Kadzuwa, who is a widow, has worked on a number of poems speaking for the voiceless, saying poetry has always given her a chance to express herself. “I also have a poem titled‘ Ndinakakhala’ that addresses the plight of a girl-child and then there is another one‘…
United Kingdom-based poet Gertrude Kadzuwa continues to tackle issues affecting society using poetry.
Kadzuwa, who is a widow, has worked on a number of poems speaking for the voiceless, saying poetry has always given her a chance to express herself.
The founder of Mzuzu-based Yathu Windows recently released her new poem titled ‘The Wriggle and the Needle’, which relates life of a worm and a widow.
“There is a tale of struggles and hardships that widows experience in their day-to-day lives and this prompted me to craft a poem,” she said.
According to Kadzuwa, this is a poem which is in form of a video and is basically an irony of a wriggle (nyongolosi) which, in its creation, does not have a backbone, yet it is the world’s famous engineer as it is in the soil blending food.
She also relates the wriggle’s behaviour to that of a widow, who is voiceless and spineless, with no access to platforms and yet she plays a vital role in making sure that her life and that of others around her keeps going.
Kadzuwa said the poem is inspired by her own journey.
“I was widowed in 2012 and the experience of moving from a married person to becoming a widow, to be without the cover of a husband, the love and support that you get from your man and, so, from all that I thought of tackling it,” she said.
Kadzuwa has also used her poetry to tackle issues of climate change affecting the society.
“I also have a poem titled ‘Ndinakakhala’ that addresses the plight of a girl-child and then there is another one ‘Akusoka Mphasa’ dedicated to musician Lucius Banda and his two brothers, who were sailing through the hardship of sickness recently,” Kadzuwa said.
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