Substance poetry swells �little theatre�
Baboki Kayawe | Monday August 17, 2015 11:17
The creative poets, some of whom were cutting their teeth in spoken word, were a marvel to listen to as they beautifully weaved vocabulary into hilarious and informative awareness messages.
They spoke of the thick clouds of smoke, otherwise the puff that most of those who find solace in smoking regard as a de-stresser. They twisted and curled tongues to warn against the untimely graves that ‘coolness’ dug, they spoke from the bottom of their hearts of the brokenness that drugs and substances have caused to many.
‘Puff to bluff.’ ‘They said I wanted rehabilitation, but all I wanted was the herb’- these are just a few of the rhymes that the audience’s ears danced to, as endless lines were artistically knitted to save generations from the enslavement that substance use and abuse have become.
Voices of regret, sounds of appreciation for being set free from substances, as well as musical sounds of hope for substance-free lives were greeted with applause and thunderous claps.
As cliché as the adage ‘dynamites come in small packages’ maybe, it rang true at the ‘little podium’ that became ‘huge’ when 23-year-old Karabo Tlhagale, 16-year-old Bame Manyanda and 17-year-old Leano Rantao spoke their way to the top three.
The trio was crowned the best poets, scooping the first, second and third positions respectively.
Famously known as Silver in the literary world, rapper and poet, Tlhagale, caught the judges’ and audience’s attention when in his winning poem he cautioned against ‘legal drugs’ commonplace in the digital age.
Silver aesthetically spoke to the anti-drug organisation, the Botswana Substance Abuse Support Network (BOSASNet) and law enforcement agencies of how smart the young generation is legally getting high through over-the-counter drugs such as codeine promethazine (syrup for common colds and cough), zanex and morphine among others.
“This is a generation that is doing legal drugs that are even hard for the police to control,” he said. The tertiary student who walked away with a P3,000 worth tablet told Showtime that he was elated to be the winner for such a good cause.
“After many years working in my craft, I took initiative and I am beginning to see results,” he said. Silver added that, “Everybody should aspire to develop themselves and function without drugs.” The first and second runners-up got P2,000 and P1,000-worth cellphones respectively.
The poetry session was part of BOSASNet’s awareness-raising campaign against drugs and substances and the month of August has been chosen for this exercise. The event was held under the theme ‘Drug Free Lifestyle - You Have The Power’.