Poetry in the Public Domain
Spoken word and poetry performance in urban spaces is a contemporary global phenomenon. Increasingly audiences are flocking to listen to exponents of the “rhyme and flow” genre, offering their views and visions and articulating forthright critical observations with strong emphasis placed on socio-political consciousness.
Pan African poets are using indigenous and oral influences that are finding resonance amongst urban audiences. In theatres, pubs and coffee shops and away from the confines of classroom convention, poetry is reclaiming its traditional function in the public arena.
This raises these issues ...
- How do poets view their roles and responsibilities in this scenario?
- Many people have a homogenous view of African cities…poor infrastructure, shanty town aesthetic, few if any internet cafes, shebeens and street bars rather than respected cultural soirée café’s and no creative spaces where such poetry activity like the urban phenomenon described above actually exist. Can it be true that such urban cultural experiences are absent or lacking in Cairo as much as Kampala, Maputo or Cape Town?
- What’s the poetry scene like in your city or ones you’ve visited?
What is your experience? Have your say below.
Poem in Response to the Question-What Kind of Music Do You Play?
diaspora sound for the melanin enhanced
junge dance on concrete
unboxable - improvisational
free style buck wild
rhythmically challenged culture bandits
can't steal this
music notation can't chart this
un notated sounds between the keys
it's too real for memorex
we string scientist
do voo doo mathematics
on your ear hole
funk so deep
grammy's can't judge stolen blues
from Mali to Memphis
cipher spinning on and on
bebop to hip hop
eternity's too short for this rhyme
by Ngoma Hill [extract]
Post a review or comment