Book Review: Chuzu reflects on Malawian author Mwangupili’s poetry book

This year I stumbled on a poetry book, ‘Fragments of My Broken Voice’, by one of Malawi’s contemporary authors, Ndongolera Mwangupili His published collection is quite poignant Before I got my eyes inside the 76-paged collection, the cover design had already caught my attention and obviously, I went ahead with reading it As I have always done with other books, I quickly went to the foreword and the author’s notes

My journey to the end of the book had, indeed, joined Mwangupili’s cry as he said, ‘…we are people who are born crying and are escorted to the grave with cries Crying is our living Crying is our survival.’ I add, crying is life, and crying is for the living The book dives deep into the human experiences of poverty, politics and pain, and ultimately, resilience

Mwangupili had taken me back to the village.The tone and sense of humour is that of a man drowning in a sea while holding onto floating wood Chapter one, “Cries of Anguish,” takes my whole thinking which sets the tone for the entire book with its raw emotion and evocative imagery The first poem, This Woman Called our Mother, worries about a community that seems to be stuck between the crack of ignorance This could be my community

And this could be your community and could be our community The author presents a stark and powerful commentary on national issues, using vivid imagery to convey the message The metaphor of a woman suffering from various afflictions, such as economic syphilis and colonial gonorrhoea, serves as an allegory for the degradation and exploitation faced by communities at the hands of oppressive systems and institutions The imagery of sightless, stupid, and sickly children born from this woman talks of the consequences of such exploitation—generations afflicted with ignorance, weakness, and suffering

The poem paints a bleak picture of societal decay and the detrimental effects of exploitation on both the present and future generations Mwangupili’s exploration of anguish is both personal and universal, capturing diverse experiences The chapter serves as a fragment of the author’s shattered voice, expressing the depths of despair and the struggle to find solace in the midst of turmoil But we are, ‘Empty people’, indeed

What can we do The world is just nothing but a big joke Though we are broken and scattered, ‘Mating Cries’ is our everyday cry This chapter reminds me that when souls are broken in poverty, pain, and desperation, the exploration of desire, connection, and the yearning for intimacy amidst brokenness is another unique characteristic of the human creature.

Source: The Standard Zimbabwe