Outpouring of grief as gifted poet Rae Lyric dies

You and gifted poet Rae Lyric, real name Mutsa Diana Shiripinda has died.

The news filtered through of her death and social media users who had come into contact with her expressed their sorrow

Diana Elisha said:

Only last Sunday we met, lifeful AND YOU MADE SUCH COMPELLING POINTS WITH YOUR SPOKEN WORD… We took it for granted that this was one of the many jam sessions together ahead… Only to wake up today to hear you have signed out… Go well, fly high, SLEEP WELL Mutsa Diana Shiripinda. Your voice lives on.. Rest In Power. ❤

Zunde Records added

We only got to experience her once on the 1st of July 2018 her energy was strong her words saturated with feeling, we had plans to do some work with her. Gone too soon RIP Mutsa Diana Shiripinda AkA Rae

Poet’s Passport said:

We are very saddened😥😥😥 to learn of the unfortunate and untimely passing of our friend and fellow poet/artist, Rae Lyric aka Rae Lyric Scribesaka Mutsa Diana Shiripinda. Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers are with her soul and her dearest family. We will forever cherish the time we spent together, the pieces of you that you were kind and brave enough to share with us. Rest In Eternal Peace & Power Dearest African Queen #SheOfTheSun #AfricanQueen #RaeLyric🇿🇼️🇿🇼️🇿🇼️

Jemimah said:

Rest In Peace Mambokadzi, a lover of life, lyric fountain, chaser of dreams at all costs. Mutsa Diana Shiripinda death be not proud.

Wadzanai said:

My heart is so sooo heavy and I am in disbelief. You were so charged up. So full of life. You had sooo many plans for the future. You were living your best life. We have lost a great woman.
You will always be a miracle Raelyric.
Rest in Power Mutsa Diana Shiripinda

Born in Zimbabwe she grew up in Gaborone, Botswana.

She began performing in 2009 and went on to start an oncampus poetry collective at her university campus. Performing weekly helped her hone her performing skills and build a following. She eventually ventured into performing at open mic sessions joined the collective, Masters of Soul, a collective of poets, vocalists and instrumentalists that performed at various corporate and private functions. With the collective, she performed at Botho Arts Festival, Maitisong Festival as well as being an opening act for Ugandan comedian Anne Kansiime. To date, Rae Lyric has performed at various festivals including Shoko Festival, Maun International Arts Festival, The University of Botswana’s Multilingualism and Poetry Festival, Shakespeare in Harare and The TiriAfrika Africa Day Concert as well as various other corporate functions.

We met her at the Sanctuary Cafe which is housed within the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe in October 2017. She was MC for the open mic session and she handled it with verve, spirit, meaning and was engaging. A week later we featured her poem on. You can click here to read it.

We would hear of her performances and intend to go and watch them. We caught one and promised ourselves another. But alas it wasn’t to be.

In what was to be her final Facebook post she said:

Mutsa Diana Shiripinda
7 July at 19:47
Quick remedies for headache

By the next morning, we had lost her.

Did you ever watch Rae Lyric perform? What was your experience. Share your thoughts below or on our social media pages (Twitter: @ThreeMenOnaBoat and fb.com/ThreeMenOnaBoat)