#THURSPOETRY: Efuru – Free My Hope

#ThursPoetry returns this week with a brand new Zimbabwean poem, thanks to our friends at Gourd of Consciousness.

Tanyaradzwa Tiffany Nyikadzino is a young lady who was born in Harare. She grew up as an only child, growing up as her own confidante and a harbor for her thoughts and feelings. Tiffany has learnt ways of coping with thoughts and feelings through poetry.

She was encouraged to come out and connect with the world through poetry by her friends who realized her talent and she has since bloomed into a profound spoken word artist better known as Efuru- meaning daughter of heaven.

Her work is inspired by her experiences and those of others. She loves to relate to others and their misunderstood feelings.

Efuru’s poetry is a story of life and it paints a picture of how she sees the world through the lens of her eyes. She joined the growing community in spoken word and poetry arts when she started university at the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) in 2017 doing Biotechnology and began the journey to finding herself beyond the borders of studying. To keep her spark from dying out, she started a club at HIT for performing and non performing arts.

She has had the opportunity to perform at various open mics, school events and at Miss Harare Grand 2019. She has also been on ZiFm’s backstage with Tshilla, Heart and Soul’s recharge with Rutendo Mutsamwira and ZBC’s Young, Gifted and Talented and many more.

Over these few years Tiffany has opened up to opportunities to grow and explore her talent.

Through this she has managed to quench her desire to venture into writing books and has so far published an anthology- Loud Thoughts (February 7 2020) along with 7 other poets. She hopes to write and publish more books in the future.

POEM

Free hopewell
Free my hope
Well, make me better
Write me a letter
Of love and make me believe
That there is a future
Lying behind the door
Envisioned
In night terrors, except that it’s reality

Free my 1, 2, 3, 4…
5 missing fingers
Missing thinkers in society
Guka, drugs, alcohol are the fast money
Youth drowning in death
Zombies in entirety

Free my hope
I’ve earned this
Graduated from the school of kungwavha
Humbavha, is the only way they know how
Kuwana madrugs is their know-how
Shooting up and smoking in
Burning up and killing
The little hope within

Free my hope
Well,
Make me better
End this
Mend this
Hope
Free
Well