From the jungle to the alter

25 Dec, 2016 - 00:12 0 Views
From the jungle to the alter

The Sunday Mail

Andrew Moyo —
THERE are many religious beliefs in the country with Christianity being among the most popular and dominant ones.

Most people in Zimbabwe claim to be Christians, regardless of their other beliefs. Furthermore, many people convert to Christianity on a daily basis, a process commonly referred to in the Holy Scriptures as “being born again”.

But after this holy conversion, one is expected to leave behind their sins (dirty past) and begin a righteous journey.

Accordingly, Widdlack Nyahwedegwe in his poetry anthology, “From the Jungle to the Alter” tries to explore differences between lives of born again Christians and that of non-believers.

In this book, the jungle is described as a place of darkness, fear, hopelessness, uncertainty and confusion. The concept of survival of the fittest stands as a key element. Conversely, the writer views an ‘alter’ as a place of worship, praise and joy in Christ.

My first impression upon setting my eyes on the book was that it would only appeal to Christians. However, I was wrong.  Reading though it made me realise the writer tackles many things that affect people despite their religious beliefs.

While the poems are meant to depict the journey of an individual from being a sinner, repenting and finally living the Christian life, they still appeal to anyone who has never taken that path.

But sadly, I feel the writer did not do justice with his poems. The writings are fairly constructive and have an almost healthy message but most of the pieces have a lukewarm tone. It takes a super-creative and brilliant wordsmith to weave mesmerising poetry and I saw nothing fancy in this work.

Granted, simplistic approach when writing can be beneficial as it makes it easier for readers to understand the message you are trying to convey but when it comes to poetry, sophistication adds panache. It is needed to add life to the writings.

Grammatical errors also affect this piece of literature.  It is clear the writer did a shoddy job on some of the poems due to reasons better known to himself. And these unnecessary mistakes in turn affects his overall book.

Upcoming writers should take their time and this anthology should serve as a lesson of how shoddy jobs can affect careers. Such reckless mistakes will in most instances be used to judge you for the rest of your career.

However, it is not all gloom. There are several pieces in which the writer showed glimpses of great potential, talent and creativity. These are the sort of traits that the writer needs to be aware of and further develop, which is in addition to making aforesaid corrections.

“Forgiven” is one of the poems that impressed me, the writer artistically describes how God forgives.

“So unbelievable it is . . ., an act so undeserved, a complete rescue from bondage of guilt, with no paid lawyer, free freedom. Such unmerited favour, justification without evaluation of works, innocence restored without prejudice, putting an end to the past,” goes part of the poem.

This book is not very big and an average reader can easily finish it in one go.

The author has a story to tell, but the lack of adventure in playing around with poetic devices resulted in the creation of an average product.

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