Tapiwanashe Nyabvure, a thirteen-year-old Form 2 student at Irene Christian College in Harare beat 150 other Poets and their entries to emerge Winner of the 2018 DD4P Annual Poetry Competition in the 13 – 15-year-old category. The selection was done by ten judges; three men and seven women from Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, UK, US and Zimbabwe.
This happened on the 24th of November, the eve of the UN Campaign on 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based violence, where Daughters Destined For Purpose (DD4P), a charity organization held its annual Poetry Competition Awards Ceremony. For the past three years, the competition has been a regular activity of the organization to raise awareness around gender-based violence for teenagers. The poetry competition targets boys and girls aged 13-19 years old, who have written poems on different themes, in 2016, it was “My Body”, in 2017, it was “My Emotions” and in 2018, it was “My Relationships”.
When interviewed on the motivation for her award-winning entry, Tapiwanashe said, “I started to write because there was no one to share information with. Mum was too busy to talk to and dad was never present and family members were too far. Hence, I keep a personal Journal named, ‘Julie,’ which I started writing in my 6th grade in 2016 when I was eleven years. I pictured Julie as a personal friend I could tell what was happening to me. I could tell her about what had happened in the past, present and the future.”
Understanding that Poetry is one way of expressing emotions that might otherwise be difficult to express and can also be a form of therapy, the founder of DD4P, Hopolang Phororo, is hopeful that the organization will engage and encourage more young people to have conversations on sensitive topics while raising awareness.
We at Writers Space Africa (WSA) and the African Writers Development Trust (AWDT) celebrate the brilliance of her words as we showcase her award-winning poetry titled ”My Relationship.”
My Relationships
Relationships are punitive and hopeless.
What is the point of being conjugal but worthless?
One day, he loves you and makes dishonest vows,
The next day he whips you and treats you like a cow.
She wants to be treated like a human with affection,
Instead, he sends her signs of rejection.
Who is she to you, a human or an object?
She is living and not some science project!
A war emerges from nothing but fire,
Although it seems harmless,
It spreads and becomes dire.
The seedling produced from their fake love,
Is brutally burnt like a discarded white glove.
Her tears of sorrow are nothing to the unit,
She hides away, untouched and forgotten.
As the war continues,
The young seedling grows;
With weary wallows,
That she does not show.
Like a tramp lost in the deep dark woods,
She is trapped in confusion,
With depression as her hood.
The voices in her head grow stronger and louder,
Making her do things that she must carefully ponder.
She scars herself for sins she did not instigate,
Her best friend, a book, a treasure too intimate.
Love to her is nothing but a dream,
When she processes the word all she gets is a plastered seam.
Read I’ll Never Give Up – A Poem by Lisa Ndobho, Tanzania
