Shari Maluleke

This lengthy poetry collection taps into the beautiful experiences of a South African poet. Intricate experiences detailed in what post-Apartheid South Africa looks like. How can one build a country that does not know how to fill its cracks? Gender-Based Violence, poverty, westernization, addiction, lack of resources. Human nature is truly being forced to survive. This poetry collection reminds us how much has been lost through colonialism and Apartheid. How living in a dysfunctional country is like skin to our teeth. All of us are living as ghosts in our shells. How can one seek hope in governments and fallen heroes that have failed them? Politicians promised so many of us the world, promised many a new South Africa. A country built on equal opportunity, racial diversity, and cultural celebration. That image has not only been distorted but has completely failed us. Post-Apartheid South Africa is crumbling. A country ravaged by selfish neo-capitalist ideas. Is this the South Africa we were promised? Is this what South Africa should look like? Hope, love, addiction, loss are but some of the complex themes that paint what the youth and older generations of South Africans encounter on a daily. Our lives are never completely our own, we are inextricably tied together. Honest poetry that wants answers, seeks healing, and ways to move forward. My favourite poem was Daughter, Alcohol is for expiring people. There were many more I loved but this one for me sparked a certain pain, a certain trauma, a certain disappointment that being a woman in South Africa constantly feels. This poem triggered the many cruel encounters I have had with drunk men, the violent words thrown at me, the invasive touches enforced on me, the harsh words spat at me - the nuances of these encounters. Lines blurred and boundaries crossed. There were many times I saw myself in these poems, but many times when I did not as well. A poetry book that explores many lives, many perspectives, many experiences all connected by geographic location. What does survival look like? What does joy look like in a country ravaged by turmoil, uncertainty, and misery? A country that glorifies the past to blind itself from its present or future. But the older I get, the more I realise a fundamental part of happiness is not achieving it, but living it, in its smallest and most unimportant moments. We watch others not only survive but also thrive, and we are reminded that we can do the same. Hope is the core of being alive, without hope we are nothing. Without hope, there is no reason to carry on - and Damoyi beautifully speaks on that. In all its forms. -Shari Maluleke