MACDONALD MUNYAWIRI

Zimbabwe poetry Assignment

Select two poems you have read and comment on what you like and
dislike about them.
The collection of poems by Musaemura and Bonas Zimunya ‘Thought- Tracks’ contains a lot
of good reads as they capture what it feels to be a Zimbwean before and after the
independence. Some base their views of protest poetry as they expose the colonial system for
what it really is; the system exposed in these poems is of a negative nature. However, the
personas’ take a different approach as some poems have happy tone to them.

The poem ‘The Slave’ the persona feels enslaved by society’s standards of living as he
references popular culture as things he hates but wants to have, more of a bitter sweet
symphony. The term slave in this context is used metaphorically, the persona is not the text
book definition of the old Black American slave; but is more of a slave to a materialistic
culture.

The objects and people mentioned in the poem resonate to what the imperialists and
colonizers came in with from their metropolitan. The persona says “This Ford Biscayne”
which is a foreign automobile and a material component, he says “this St Mark suit” “the
Tempest stereo the Suzuki guitar this camera” these are all objects that were not
indigenous to Africa and are all tangible items. This highlights how the poet feels enslaved by
a materialistic society he continues on the third stanza mentioning footballers and
millionaires. These may not be objects but tangible bodies.

It is admirable that the persona states that he owns some of the things he mentioned in the
poem, like the camera. This shows that it is a human trait to want and own what everyone
else has and what everyone else wants.

The poem on its own however creates a depressing mood towards the end as the writer shows
the audience or reader that such a form of slavery is difficult to escape also shedding light
that just like a ghost, slavery haunts its victims constantly.
A poem in the collection that is similar to ‘The Slave’ is ‘My Cars (The car-washer)’ this
poem shares more of a humorous theme throughout whereas ‘The Slave’ has a gloomy
atmosphere. In ‘My Cars’ the writer has created a world in his mind and has convinced
himself that he owns most of the cars he mentions. Judging with the tittle, readers believe that
the persona washes cars for a living.

In this sense, we realize that the persona has created a lifestyle in his imagination as a coping
mechanism. As mentioned before the tone of the poem is positive and the atmosphere is of
the same area, however the poem is post-independence showing that black people were still
trying survive in a capitalist society with no education. As education was granted to a few
lucky ones. The use of grammatically incorrect English highlights the idea that the persona
has no western education. This device also creates a form of humor, as it is funny when one
speaks in such language and the audience is able to understand despite the order of speech.

The collection of poems by Musaemura and Bonas Zimunya ‘Thought- Tracks’ contains a lot
of good reads as they capture what it feels to be a Zimbwean before and after the
independence. Some base their views of protest poetry as they expose the colonial system
however; the exposure is presented in multiple views some as positive and some negative.
The positive poems may just be a way to cope with their current predicament, as it was not
completely easy for Zimbabweans before and after independence.