Poetry Project BIG Journal

1. I obviously need to work on my public speaking, because I tend to be far more articulate in my writing and prove unable to demonstrate that through speech. Because of this lack of public speaking skill, I tended to ramble on and repeat things that did not need to be repeated. I also clearly noticed how I could not come up with synonyms and therefore used the same word numerous times. I did not hit all the points that I had when I practiced, skipping some accidently, and therefore causing empty space that I tried to fill in with repetition or something made up on the spot. I could have also used a bit of audience participation to keep the audience engaged. In addition, it would have been nice if there had been more information on Frank Chipasula, because it was really hard to find decent sources that said much about him even though his poetry, in my opinion, was great. I liked this project, but I think it should have been limited to where either everybody does a power point or nobody does, because presenting a power point is much different than speaking with nothing in front of a podium. I also liked that it was very independent, yet all of the projects seamed together by the end. Other presentations were definitely easily relatable.

2. Frank Chipasula is a very educated man that sees the world, and more specifically Malawi, through a different perspective. In my opinion, he successfully changes the readers perspective and informs them. He displays his opinion in a very sarcastic or ironic way, most clearly shone in his first poem of the anthology, "In a Free Country." He exhibits his personality unquestionably so in the first stanza:
They ran out of cuffs, but
with apologies for the inconvenience,
they carefully wrapped barbed wire
round the wrists of the political prisoners
who, as if in ritual stretched
their arms out to the young masters. (1-6)
My first question upon reading this stanza was if "political prisoners" referred to politicians turned prisoners, or if it referred to prisoners of politics. Prisoners of politics could relate more to Frank Chipasula himself, having been somewhat of a slave to the political system and eventually rebelling, earning him his exile. Throughout all of his poems he uses quite a bit of harsh and sharp words that hint at his considerably traitorous nature. These words include cuffs, barbed wire, chains, stinging whips, blood, crumbling image, anger, tyranny, ravaged, malarial air. Many of these word or motifs reoccur several times over the few pages he has in this anthology. He uses repetition not so much in single poems, but throughout separate ones. The most prevalent motifs include tyranny, barbed wire, and handcuffs. All of these motifs scream pain and suffering, especially in the manner of which he used them. Some of my favorite and most influential lines include some from "A Love Poem From My Country" such as "hearts thumping with pulses of desire or fear" and "I will emerge from the night breaking into song / Like the sun, blowing out these evil stars" (13, 24-25). The former strikes me because of the uncertainty or widely mixed emotions displayed. Desire and fear could not be more opposite, and I believe Chipasula is trying to describe the uncertainty and therefore willingness to follow like blind sheep that is shown in Malawi. The latter line exemplifies his repetitive use of nature in his metaphors and similes, very similar to Blantyre where he refers to "When the moon awoke, with bags under his eyes" (6). This poem, Blantyre (the name of a Malawian city), also uses the motif of barbed wire, describing the fences lining the "personal prison where fear rules"(17).
"Nightfall" and "Nightmare" both carry similar names and significances. Another reoccurring theme, tyranny, which has clearly affected him deeply through his exile, is mentioned in both of these poems. Next comes his darkest poem of all through my perspective, "A Hanging." Written from Zomba Central Prison, this poem brought me back a scene in Night by Elie Wiesel, where the main character and all of his prisoners are forced to watch the still warm body of oe of their prisoners sway in the wind, much like Chipasula's description when he said "His pendulous body tolled" (1). In this poem, he also expresses the unjust and unequal treatment of criminals when he writes "Being political, he was not entitled / to the miraculous luck of the criminals" (44-45). This poem struck me the most, most vividly when the man was then killed with a poisonous syringe, an ending I did not see coming. Chipasula seems to enjoy doing something like this, tricking the reader by either giving off a surprise ending, like just mentioned, or titling a poem with something sarcastic, such as "A Love Poem for My Country" or "In a Free Country," where the mood and tone are not relevant at all to what the title suggests.

3. As a few students said in class before, I think that comparing these readers is like comparing apples and oranges: both fruit, yet still very different. Out of all the poetry I have read though, those from this anthology being specifically from Africa seem to be more on the darker side of the spectrum. Also, after learning the backgrounds of many of the poets, I discovered that many had similar backgrounds, and therefore the same influences or motives in their writing. The poem "Exile" by Mbella Sonne Dipoko has similar themes as my poet, but on the other hand does not seem like something he would write. Both poems express the dreary existence of exile and the affects of a big political change in their country (independence in Malawi, and invasion by troops in Cameroon). Dipoko, however, uses much more figurative language whereas Chipasula tends to be straight forward and literal. Lines like "The scaly hand of a child takes in greeting" are not something that is written in the same tone as Chipasula. This is exactly what I think differentiates these poets in the anthology. Many have similar influences and similar purposes, but their tone is what sets them all apart and makes them unique.
Then there are the different styles altogether, like Lenrie Peters, who have a possible European influence. The poem "Parachute Men" could not differ more. Frank Chipasula, as I said before, is very literal, but "Parachute Men" has very abstract ideas that could be manipulated into several meanings. The lines "Solid ground / Is not where you left it / As you plunge down" can refer to many things, not just the literal sense of parachuting. For example, one reader could interpret it as moving back somewhere to realize that everything has changed, in this way, Peters becomes a bit more of a puzzle than Chipasula tries to be. I think it is ironic though, because there is almost no information on Chipasula on the internet, creating a bit of an enigma itself.
Structure also varies greatly from poet to poet. Frank Chipasula uses full sentences and "proper" capitalization and other grammar, something I believe roots from his history as a novelist. Then, you read a poem like "The World" by Niyi Oundare from Nigeria, where there is no capitalization and no punctuation apart from a comma.
These differences, I believe, change from poet to poet, not country to country. This is why I believe that it is unfair to generalize African poets, or even Malawian poets. Similarities exist between any two poems just from the nature of poetry, and I could fairly confidently say that if I had been given a random poem from this anthology, I could not necessarily identify it as African.