ANOTHER SUBLIME POEM BY SKIETREKER

The Beauty of the Free State

Botle Ba Foreistata ...

By “Skietreker” Richard Segopolo

 Like a Poetry Commando
In a Free State Of Mind
I Speak No Secrets

Wordfest

Rooted from the Heart
Walking Through the tunnel
And Diving away from Plot & Conspiracy

Hate & Negative Voices
I Burn them up and Destroy them
God my knowledge and spirit
Archives of the Word
Spiritual seekers the blessed
The Godly the healers of time
Tebogo investigates
Like the fall of Marcus Desmond

Thaba Nchu my bass
Life is like Music
Saint Vis via grapevine
Writing bars through the air
To faith to stand
To Believe & to Walk
Come and Have a Look
And let words drive you
Mafika & Lechesa
Qoopane Literary Services
Motheane Thinane Masolane
Motheo le Puo ya Sesotho
Chief Omoseye Sekgowa
Weep not Marikana Thiba
It wasn’t Magic
We saw it

Free State is us
Lord of the rings
J R Tolkins
Jumping through words
Like robust Windows
Breaking any Linux coding
With the heart of a spoon
Spinning through
Vinyl’s & Shaxe as we press to
Find the winning combination

Alay yen

Mnyakeni
and when we do

Mnumzana
Lets stick to it

Like lovers and Ba2cada

Deon Simphiwe
As Tebogo Investigates
Why people are going Kaboom

Botshelo Bo Marara

As we pray and wish for Better days

Yonkinto

Let me take this musical cloth

And wipe away this which blinds my spirit

And irritates the only hope I have left

Hanging in my room like a photograph

Fana namane speak to the light

And let God give life to images

For life is a journey and we each have a pencil

And what you draw is your message

But what you leave behind is a legacy

Let your talent touch hearts

From humble beginnings

To respecting our gifts

Your success lies in what drives you

Some find peace
and call it Lethabong
Mahungra Macufe Moshoeshoe
Lesotho our neighbors
channeling one's thoughts onto Paper
if you don’t love me just because
I don’t have Masheleng
Gosiame
One World
One God
One Love
Apartheid Ek Gaan Jou Boks

Can somebody say

McKenzie
Thami Moleko
Masele
Mokolokotwane
Modimo Bophelo

 Babes mpotseng
Mmabana
Musicon
Bloemfontein

Bo naka di maripa

Music on
And if
I didn’t mention you on the internet
Ntshwarele its cold
And I’m offline
Ho tsamaya ke hobona
This poem makes no sense
Without your name being here

So literary soldier we value you
Even wena who they call
The ordinary just because
Emotionally & Physically
We might be broke
But together we stand united
It’s a fact
We are Spiritual Billionaires

A Toast to all those
Who have never been mentioned
For their great contributions
And their 5cents
As a toilet Cleaner or being called a maid mate
Even that simple guy wa Carwash

And I don’t want to do this
But it has to be done

With this page let me leave a footprint

In a Free State of mind

Upon the sands that carry the voices of many

Who were robbed the freedom to live

Bloody bag bottled body brutally buttered

Set alight radio frequencies circulate

News reported children missing

Wrong information deported

 As a student from the university of life

I cycle to release the tension in my veins

And safely jog before my exam to punch anxiety in the face

I look forward to the day when a mother can walk freely

And have her blind daughter graduating

With her eyes closed and see a nation of men

Praying to change and rebuild the trust

She had growing up but lost it to the man

Who stole the electricity in her spirit

And destroyed the only hope she knew

She had she could she would have

She did she won

She made it

She is

And he is her

We are them

And if it is to be

It is up to us

To change and transform it to how

We would like to receive it.

AFRICAN PLAUDITS FOR ROGER MOORE

Roger Moore, the suave, debonair actor who breathed life into James Bond in a series of films mainly in the 80s died this week at almost 90 years old. Since his demise, countless stars etc have been coming out to pay tribute to this magnificent actor. And the same has been happening in Africa too.

Whilst Sean Connery had played Bond as a tough, wry, wise-cracking agent, Moore took over and emphasized playing the part as a sort of "spoof" - wise cracking, quipping, with lots of tongue-in-cheek nuances. In Africa, many actors including from the famed Nollywood stable have been praising Roger Moore the actor; with many of them stating how much he influenced them, and how they admired him since their youth. Some insisted that Moore should be immortalised, which in essence he has been, or already is anyway. Interestingly, some African writers have also insisted that they patently admired the late Roger Moore too.

For example, Chief O Bolaji, who started the famous "Tebogo Mystery series" which now has eight published volumes, said: "I loved the way Moore played Bond on screen, when I was young. A superb actor indeed. Always amusing and charming and a gentleman with women. I found myself incorporating many elements of the Moore persona into my own books on the Tebogo detective…”

Bolaji added: “As many pundits have pointed out over the years, (my) fictional Tebogo is a rather fine gentleman too, with a sense of humour, he actually hates violence and evil... Tebogo is so nice, actually weak with women - even if such women are killers! One critic pointed out that Tebogo is so weak and foolish with ladies that he is almost killed at the end of one of the adventures...(Tebogo's spot of bother)"

Another African writer and critic, Raphael Mokoena, said: "I think we can all learn from a sublime actor like Roger Moore. Even his quips have a lot of literary merit...well, sometimes. There is the sense of something positive and fair in Moore's character which I try to put into my own reviews and writings, my critical ‘scribblings’...being fair in whatever one critiques... I rather think African critics Mr Mzwandile Soqaga and Tiisetso Thiba are like that too...presenting positive images in their work…I mean, it's good to be good, eh? That sort of thing...may Roger Moore’s soul rest in peace"

Photos: 1. (top) Roger Moore
2. (centre) Bolaji's Tebogo and the Bacchae, part of the Tebogo Myster series
3. (above) Roger Moore, with co-stars Tanya Roberts and Grace Jones (A View to A Kill)

SHORT STORIES TO TANTALISE

Book: Free State Brewed Short Stories

Edited by P Lechesa

This anthology of short stories was published just a few days before Alice Munro was internationally announced as the 2013 winner of the Nobel award in literature. The blurb of this book states emphatically:

"Alice Munro, celebrated writer of fiction of the shorter variety describes a story as ‘a world seen in a quick glancing light’. In other words, every day events, gongs and tragedies are briefly illuminated in the best of short stories.

The stories in this collection – written by talented African writers - epitomize some of the best in recent writings...Enjoy the Cornucopia of stories!”

This new book, edited by Pule Lechesa, is a collection of interesting, wide-ranging short stories. At first brush one can see that the contributors to this work are essentially proficient wordsmiths, hence the fine quality of most of the stories published here. Indeed this is a cross-section of the contributors:

Charles Matorera

Already making his name as an astute writer of short stories. His story, Singwizi: The golden journey is already quite celebrated – hence its inclusion in this work. Matorera is working on his first full-length novel now.

Maxwell Perkins Kanemanyanga

An accomplished writer of short stories. He churns out such stories “with disarming fecundity”. He has already published three books – collections of short stories – Enemy of the State, How do I talk about my ordeal? and Chapindapasi (2013) Maxwell was featured in the book, Interviews with effervescent Writers (2012)

Teboho Masakala

Even in his late teens, he was tipped by literary pundits to take the literary world by storm. Since then he has remarkably been fulfilling his potential by publishing works like Mind, pen, paper and ideas (2010), Through it all (2011) and The fall of Marcus Desmond (2012) He has also published the book, Shout to the Lord (2013)

O Bolaji

Multi-award-winning author who has published fiction, literary criticism, poetry, drama, biographies etc. Author of novels like Impossible Love, The ghostly adversary, and People of the townships. Creator and writer of the “Tebogo Mokoena Mystery series” which now incorporates eight volumes (adventures)

Tseliso Masolane

Tseliso Masolane is the author of a rip-roaring Sesotho poetry book, Bo naka bo maripa; which the controversial critic Pule Lechesa described “as a must read, a page-turner, coherent, didactic and thought-provoking to boot.” This dynamic polyglot works as the Deputy Director at Bloemfontein based Sesotho Literary Museum which is the first in indigenous languages. He is also the founder of Motheo Award winning newspaper called Shwehwe and Qwaqwa community radio station.

Mathibeli George Rampai

Rampai is a skilled writer of fiction whose monumental work From Where I stand is still being celebrated liberally in many literary circles. Rampai came out tops as Author of the Year (2012) courtesy of the esteemed Mbali Literary Awards.

Teboho Letshaba (above)

A superb creative writer and journalist, author of a number of award winning works in the Sesotho language; his talent belongs to the top drawer.

     
     * Free State brewed Short Stories, edited by Pule Lechesa, is published by Mbali Press. Sponsored by the National Arts Council of South Africa