kagablog

The tricky question of identity pops up again.
Burning like a burst pimple on the left butt-cheek
.
SOWEDOH
Or
SOWETO

Did anyone bother to remember?
But
SOUTH WESTERN TOWNSHIP,
Is still an apartheid monument.

I sat under a tree
Trying to understand the nature
Of a
Book.
It’s all
Natural.

The
Only
Reason
People
Die
Is because
We try moving
Faster
Than
The speed
Of
Life

For every kingdom that falls,
a million more will sprout from the ground
Each burdened with the responsibility
of leaving their mark on the earth
For every life that’s lost
a million more brave the birth canal,
With talents clinched in each fist
not knowing what destiny holds
And I descendant of a tribe whose truth
dances with the easterly winds
Whose identity eroded with the Kalahari sand storm
But I, like many of my lineage carry the whispers of history
as melodies in the heart
As songs of fortune ruffle my soul’s feathers
Leaving me singing wisdom I barely understand.
But for the sake of those whose genes shape me
Whose bloodline fuels the life force I am
I sing these ancient chants,
and echo memories of my past
to my future
The beautiful myth
and legends that I call my culture
Immortalised as
drums,
voices,
dancing feet,
clapping hands
And a belief that
every rising sun brings with it
a new melody

Today
I cried
And with my tears
Fell all the walls around me.
With my tears
Fell all
Expectations prejudice and colour.
Today
My tears
Washed away all memory of my failures
Washed away all memory of my struggles
And all traces of my scars.

Today
I heard poetry
For the first time
It was heavy with accent
Yet, spoke clarity
It spoke words
That drove demons out of me
It unleashed pain from my spirit prison
And fed it to the universe
For she knows how to deal with it
It freed all corners of my mind
And gave me freedom lessons
It painted God as me
And hung my portrait
On the gallery of thought

Today
My world
Lost all shape and form
And what stood before me
Were endless possibilities
Today
My earth was clay
And I was a six year old

Today
I learned how to breathe
And
With every breath
Came fresh hope
With every breath
Came new visions and dreams
With every breath
Came
Time, age and wisdom

Today
I learned
To let go

Lost seeking self
Judged and adored
Fallen yet moving
Shamed in pride
A dreamer
I am not doing too badly.

They speak of a man trying to move a rock, hoping a mountain will follow/
they speak of a woman dancing in a rain of bullets trying to salvage joy amidst the sorrow/
they speak stolen moments in the hands of exile/ lives torn at the seams, if only God was willing I would paint portraits of life/
I would paint tragedy in different shades of pink/
I would arrange heartbreak in synch with heartbeats/
if only God was willing these streets would make instead of break/
they would give instead of take/
yet they give willingly false illusions to any soul seeking the pot of gold at the end of the neon lights/
these streets wear different mask and some they give bread/
to some they give wisdom and to others they give misery instead/
another patron is dead seems to be the daily anthem/

Will these streets ever tell the truth about the young vocalists it takes with them/ we all drum to the rhythm played by these streets/
we all chant to the chorus sung by these streets/
we all dig for treasures buried in these streets/
with open palms we fight to catch crumbs thrown by these streets….

….THEY SPEAK!

Labeled “daddy’s little joy” for she born on the seven scales carried the stars in her smile
moved with planets in her stride
and seasons would alternate between her eye blinks yet she carried heaven as her pride
but it must have been a bad season
coz she doesn’t smile now

But now she wears fear as a cushion just in case she bumps into those memories still haunting her sleep
rests with an eye open, keeping screams as her guard and a rope attached to reality to pull her self out just in case she sleeps too deep
hips sway to a careless rhythm for music no longer inspires her
and love is an empty burden only carried only by fools who believe in fairy tales
and I remember she used to believe in fairy tales

She used to believe in black magic and that witches were the lucky few who had escaped the clutches of life
she used to believe in reincarnation after speaking to the man on the moon
she believed in a higher being and that salvation was coming soon
dreams were her play ground and the world her colouring book
she played stones with the gods hugging freedom as her blanket
she cried only to create endless fountains of youth
Carried wings on her shoulder blades for she usually flies with time
And pain was only a strange perception in the corners of her mind
and I remember but does she want to remember?
does she want to remember?
Those endless moments when hell was left to walk the earth
and had she had a choice she would have easily chosen a grave over birth
that cursed day when the sun did not wake up and the night booked a room in her heart
When flames of hatred and fear painted her pupils red replacing the stars that usually glow in her eyes
but she doesn’t smile now

But now she has a score to settle with life
she had a deal with fate but certain things just did not go right
at birth she was promised that the sun would always shine
but never told that the same sun would scorch her back and lengthen the days of her miseries
never told that the sun would set and darkness too would also become part of her reality
she was told, her life would have endless possibilities and that she must make the best of it
But never told that in reality this rabbit hole was in fact a bottomless pit
and that the same arms that love and heal could chain her future to residues of a night over spent
these very finger tips that polish her back with passion filled strokes could leave traces of confusion where wisdom once blossomed giving moods and colour to seasons
Can u blame her? Coz she doesn’t smile now

And I can still hear her screams
her tears still wet my pillow that’s why at times I drown in my dreams
so I scribble down her pain only to help (me) find the path
and this is for every woman and child who’s suffered the wrath of my brother’s hands
whose wishing well has run dry, who now looks up to a blue and purple sky
This is for every woman who has lost her smile
and this is for every child who has lost her innocence
This is for my brother who has lost his inner sense now

At the verge of insanity I stand
My head I have detached, displayed
And viewed from all possible angles
Yet still pose confused in the gallery of love
The art in we, still fresh with a fragrance of hands
Sculptures, with feeling
I have awarded your mastery
And hung portraits on the walls of memory
An exhibition the colour of peacocks
Fine strokes of passion
A splash of nerve
A mahogany frame of trust
And not words in the prime of talent
Could paint the spectrum of we
And we, artists, sketch life unclothed
Stars are audience
Unperfected needles, we scribe

But, maybe for sanity’s sake
It’s time for this model to change his pose

We, is a beautiful concept
But, we can never work out

rumour has it
that the roots of rock as we know it,
score whispers of truth,
leave human records unspun,
in the form of, ambition-propelled,
note-streams.

rumour has it
that we, compositions of clay
who speak sand storms
in the dilect of rock
carry scoresheet of origin
as patterns of skin tone.

can u dig?

yeah, i can dig

for we have dug rock
and
played its tragedy on world stages
around necks of legends
between rock-breaks, base kicks and hi-hats,
we have given life and limb
improvised the art of digging rock
yet stand with a fistful of sound
as descendents of soil.

can you rock?

yeah, i can rock
for we have danced bullets
and rocked oppression out of fashion
tatooed rock on the tongue of memory
and now the world sings our name.

and who are we?

we are the under-miners
and under mines
we are undermined
migrant roadies who beat rock
we beat rock
we beat rock
we beat rock
and let the beat rock
with a gumboot beat-box
we let the beat rock

and thru unplugged volumes of rock
ruff jewels bare the rock crushed backs
in pursuite of their destiny to shine
While mine,
Is a legacy of blood
A chorus beneath the earth
Instruments of greed
We compose the riches of rock
Yet sing hunger to the night
My royalty is life
Unspoken it hurts
Buried in a verse
The irony of word
Truth spoken, unheard
On how we still fish the earth
And while you rhyme about platinum and gold
Music is the canvas and we paint secrets untold

When the album is done
And black label satisfies a black labour thirst
We play a new rhythm
Back stage, while you toast statues of our labour
We play a new rhythm
We beat rock and
Let the beat rock
We beat rock and
With a gumboot beat-box
We let the beat rock

(Tues, 12/04/2005)

I stood in a cipher with God
and all he seemed to speak about was rotating planets and stars
I stood in a cipher with God
and all he seemed to speak about was separating light from the dark,
barbeques on the sun and leaving a burning candle on the moon
Thor was his beat-box and Moses was keeping score on 2 four-cornered stones
his accomplice was a four headed shadow which seemed to bump it’s head in every direction
and the spying Ra, listened from a distance in anticipation
he started talking about me and I thought he was dissing
but actually he was explaining the philosophy behind me
see, God is the wizard and I’m his magical bag of tricks
all he needs to is think and I spit
and we don’t need blunts to reach the highest ultimate level of thought
coz we smoke life rolled up in papyrus leaves
blow out smoke rings and let them hang around Saturn planets
then suddenly Thor changed the beat
Thor changed the beat and 21 angels joined in
we opened up the cipher so the rest of hell could move in
flames sparked the cipher from this fiery creature claiming he was a battle cat
he started dissing but God ignored him,
I asked why, he said “nah, I’ll let Gabriel handle that “
he called me the first son of man and kept on repeating that
the Armageddon was only a punch-line away,
the Armageddon was only a punch-line away
but how could it be, he had promised me that we would cipher into eternity
then deciding that he was out of my league,
he brought Moses in to battle me
now Moses was from the old school and was known to battle only with 10 lines
but could simultaneously project his voice to transmit through 10 mics
10 times, now that’s 10 lives
10 mc’s embarrassed and taken out at the same time
the cipher was getting hot and I had to battle back,
so looking at Moses I was like
You are not an m.c
even if I was the red sea and you were a staff
You still couldn’t split me
Don’t even look at me
You need to live another century to be raw enough to battle me
And I’m the prodigal son out of the crowd you misled
And I’m back to make swallow every word you ever said
Even on Noah’s ark you wouldn’t survive regardless
I’ll make you write AFURAKAN as the eleventh commandment

The beat stopped as Thor had swallowed his electrical tongue
and all corners of the universe seemed to fold in
too dumb-struck to react, Moses collapsed face flat
as the 21 angels hung their heads in shame
and fell on my knees at God’s feet

Our father, please forgive me for I have killed one of your sons
Please forgive me for I have killed one of me

My tongue was then imprisoned for 21 reincarnations
only then can I cipher with God again
only then can I truly be me, again

A BIOGRAPHY OF THABISO AFURAKAN MOHARE- WRITER/ PERFORMANCE POET

Born a writer, Thabiso Mohare’s biggest challenge has always been words. Words create and words destroy. As a word-smith, he struggles to find the fine balance between what is and what is not. Birth name, Thabiso Mohare- a Tswana boy- born in 1982, assuming the alias AFURAKAN provided not only meaning to his life but also identity. An African as the name translates. Through poetry AFURAKAN has found a way to deal with his demons, joys, trials and tribulations and the occasional creativity outburst. Through his writings, he echoes the new voice of South African literature and oral arts and tells stories of victories and challenges that face this young and vibrant nation. Women and child abuse, xenophobia, self empowerment and everyday stories of the world around him, these are some of the issues this young scribe tackles through his words. As a creative writer, he also aims at teaching morality and values through fictitious short stories that leave minds with the question “if words don’t move you, what does?” He believes that the future of a new Africa lies in the re-education of the African child and through words and the age-old tradition of story telling, a new history is written with every line. As a performer, AFURAKAN brings to stage a fresh and dynamic energy that both educates and entertains. Fusing spoken word, jazz and Hip-hop, listeners are taken through a journey of art and self exploration that aims to inspire and eradicate stereotypes around poetry and the need for the youth to be heard. As part of his stage performance Afurakan is accompanied by a, live Beat-Box artist named Kgaugelo “BLAST” Serote, grand son to the legendary South African poet and author- Wally Serote, and together they give RHYTHMN & POETRY a new exciting look and sound. Off-stage, Thabiso is a youth activist. As part of an ethno urban hip hop-soul poetry collective, named-SOUL2MOUTH, he has been actively involved in creating platforms for youth expression by setting up and running poetry and music open mic shows and work shopping young artists on creative writing and stage performances.

Thabiso Afurakan Mohare’s career track record

∑ Organised and facilitated the “Poetry in locomotion” open mic poetry open mic sessions at Cool Runnings and the Base Line in Johannesburg which ran for a period of 18 months. 2003-2004.
∑ Participated and performed at the Buwa arts and literature conference 2003 held in Pretoria and also performed at the Buwa Dinner evening in honour of Ngugi O’ Tiongo and Sonia Sanchez held at the Presidential Guest House, Union Buildings.
∑ Hosted and performed at the June16 Youth Day Celebrations 2003 for the Gauteng Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture (Orlando stadium, Soweto).
∑ Performed at Oppikoppi 10 music festival 2004.
∑ “God is African” movie promotional road show (East-Rand & the Vaal). 2004.
∑ Performed at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Banking executive’s Leadership Conference 2004 at the Dimension Data Campus.
∑ Performed at the Aardklop cultural Festival 2004 in Potchefstroom.
∑ Performed at the annual Telkom “Night of Poets in Honour of Women” 2004, Kyalami.
∑ Headliner act at the Crossing Border poetry and music Festival, Netherlands, 2004. This festival is the biggest poetry and music festival in Europe and showcases 250 bands from around the world.
∑ Hosted and performed at the “Writer’s Ball” organised by the British Council at Horror Café, Johannesburg. 2004.
∑ Released a self funded and produced poetry C.d named SLAMANTHOLOGY, December 2004, launched at the Horror Café, Johannesburg. This C.d has since set the standard and served as inspiration for other young poets to record and release their work.
∑ Worked with Afro Poetics Creations as a creative and production assistant on the SABC VOICE OF CHOICE AWARDS held at the Voda Dome, Midrand and on the SABC Radio Legends awards held at Club Kilimanjaro, Melrose Arch.
∑ Facilitated creative expression workshops for THE YOUTH EMPOWERMENT NETWORK in the following areas- Soweto, Thokoza, Alexandra and Jo’burg in 2005-2006.
∑ Performed as a backing artist with, slam poet and vocalist and published author- Chigo Gondwe, at the African Women Chartered Accountants Awards Evening held at the Sandton Convention Centre. In attendance at the awards were amongst others, South African leaders, such as Deputy President Mrs Ngcuka, Governor Tito Mboweni and Mrs Albertinah Sisulu. 2005.
∑ Production manager and performing artist on the 34 days “I AM AFRIKA CULTURAL TOUR-MALAWI” organised by Afro Poetics Creations. During this month we facilitated Youth- Business and Arts workshops and performed in all major cities, Lilongwe- Mzuzu and Blantyre. 2005.

∑ Performed at the “Lake of stars Music festival” 2005 held at Chintheche, Malawi along side top Malawian and U.K musicians and Djs including the world renowned BASSMENT JAXX.
∑ Performed as a headliner at the 2nd annual INFINITE WORDS POETRY FESTIVAL held in Gaborone, Botswana. This is the biggest poetry festival in Botswana and showcases 15 of the best Botswana and international poets and musical acts. 2005.
∑ Worked as production manager and performed at the annual BLACK WORD POETRY AND MUSIC FESTIVAL 2005 held at Constitution Hill, Jozi. This is currently the biggest poetry festival in South Africa and featured 20 poets from 3 Southern African countries including S.A, Botswana and Lesotho.
∑ Performed at the WHEN LIFE HAPPENS poetry festival 2005 held at the Song Writers Club, Newtown. The festival was charity event which aims at promoting HIV/AIDS awareness amongst young people.
∑ He will also be releasing his 2nd poetry C.d named DISTORTION; this is a joint venture with YEBO! Studios and is produced by legendary producer and sound engineer Leon Erasmus.
∑ He is the Guest-Editor and columnist of the only poetry publication in South Africa named B_KO MAG.
∑ Has opened for and shared a stage with the likes of Kgafela Oa Magogodi, Makumeele Manaka, Lebo Mashile, Kegorapetse Kgositsile, Lesego Rampolokeng, Lefifi Tladi, Mutabaruka, Flo, Chigo Gondwe, Jules Dernby, Sonia Sanchez, Hip-Hop Pantsula, M.X.O, Sliq Angel, Kojo Baffoe, Kabomo, Ntsiki Mazwai, Maisha Jenkins, Stacy-Anne Chin, Tumi and The Volume and many more poets and performers of our country and the world.
∑ Throughout his career Afurakan has attracted media attention that has seen him featured in both print and electronic and television media which include:
o PRINT: the Sowetan, the Star, Pretoria News, Malawi news, B_ko Magazine,
o TELEVISION: The Shizniz on E TV, 3-TALK with Noleen on SABC 3, O Boma- Channel O, World of Winners (SABC 2), the Most Amazing Show with Twakkie and Corne-SABC 2, Street Journal-SABC 1,Giant Steps (a documentary about South Africa’s legendary writers and poets) directed by the legendary film maker Aryan Kaganof. This documentary was flighted on SABC 1 on 3 October 2005, with the DVD released a week later. Afurakan is also currently featuring on reality based comedy show named KENNY MAKENZO. This show which flights prime time on SABC 1 is a 13 part series which will be running from January to April 2006.
o RADIO: word of mouth-yfm, the TOM LONDON show- 702 TALK RADIO, breakfast show-metro fm, SAfm, Rhodes music radio, Capital fm- Malawi, Ya Rona fm- Botswana, Poetry corner-JOZI fm, Alexandra community radio, T.U.T Top Stereo ( Tshwane Univ. Campus radio)
o INTERNET: www.kush.co.za, www.iamafrika.com, www.star.co.za, www.jozilive.co.za, www.artslink.co.za, www.crossingborder.nl,