Kabelo Mofokeng
HUNGRY ON ARRIVAL
As we celebrate Freedom Day this year, we also mark the 30th anniversary of democracy in South Africa. This is a major achievement, which many believed to be impossible.
But how should we celebrate this achievement now, and what do young poets have to say about the continuing challenges they face?
On this Freedom Day, the AVBOB Poetry Project celebrates the exuberant voice of Kabelo Mofokeng, a poet and photographer with a master’s degree in creative writing from Rhodes University. His debut poetry collection, Hungry on Arrival (Botsotso, 2023) often combines English, Sesotho and Scamtho (Johannesburg creole originating from the interactions of a diverse population) in the same poem.
Some of these poems were inspired by Mofokeng’s wide reading while he was finishing his creative writing thesis. But most readers will probably be struck first by how close they feel to vivid everyday speech, a quality that emerged in performance at readings in Afropolitan Johannesburg. “They have a life of their own,” Mofokeng explains, “and may change depending on the audience.”
In the collection’s foreword, he notes, “Some poems come via my home in Pimville, Soweto, the urban sounds and multilingual speech patterns as I move through it. Other poems draw on Sesotho culture and tradition, which still run strongly in my family.”
He reports that many Sesotho speakers have been astonished to find their language and familiar experiences captured on the page. Similarly, many Scamtho speakers in the township recite his poems in bars and poetry venues today.
“Those multilingual poems are like tunes. They have a strong musical resonance. Some people have commented on how the music evoked by those poems even comes off the page as they read them.”
Mofokeng’s poems are often in conversation with older, more established poets, especially with the jazz musicians he loves. The title of his collection refers to a tune by bassist Fana Zulu. Sometimes, his evocations of jazz are so powerful that it feels as if one is actually in the room as variations on old tunes are being improvised.
At the same time, the collection’s title announces a generation of vibrant new poets, who still often feel excluded from mainstream discourse and equal opportunities in the marketplace. One particularly fine poem, ‘All White Party’, begins:
“Dressed to kill
hungry on arrival
tank on reserve
I park strategically
disallowed entrance by a lousy doorman
to a party venue
home
a million stars away
from my ghetto heaven…”
By the end of the poem, Mofokeng has decided to turn his back on this exclusive event. He is called back to the music of the streets he knows and loves. In this way the poem ultimately becomes a gesture of defiance, an expression of freedom.
Mofokeng has mixed feelings about celebrating freedom: in many ways, he says, the inequalities in our society have worsened despite our country being a beacon of hope for the rest of the African continent. In the face of these worsening inequalities, he urges aspiring poets to remain independent and inclusive:
“…when hunger cripples the land
it hurts every child
that is why a poet cannot belong to any politician.
“A poet’s love cannot be tamed
or constrained
we are all spirit people…”
In the next few days, write a poem inspired by the atmosphere on the streets where you live. See how many languages and registers you can include.
Remember that the AVBOB Poetry Competition open again on 1 August 2024. Start preparing now by reading some of the winning poems from previous years at www.avbobpoetry.co.za.