Munyori Poetry Journal

A Chat With Tawanda Gumbo, MD, Poet, Novelist.

1. Please tell us anything you want about yourself.

Thank you for the questions. Incidentally, the question you asked is more fascinating
than it sounds. It is “Who am I?” Who do I see myself as? Just a Karanga (Shona) man,
would be the distinction that I claim. In that respect, I hope I write with the ordinary
mindset of those beautiful people; I think about the way they raised me; hopefully, I articulate
their hopes and pains. And, as you know, there has been a lot of pain lately [in Zimbabwe]. Granted, in
the long history of the Karanga/Shona people the present period of pain is only a small
part of a long history, but that does not diminish the tears. On a lower level, I would
claim the distinction of belonging to the Gumbo people, all gone before me, and those to
come. In that respect I am a father, husband, and a son. Finally, I write, I like to
express in poetry with the idioms of the people from whom I come . Finally, I am a
physician scientist, but then, that is job. And jobs should never really define whom we
are.


2.When did you start writing poetry, and if you don’t mind me
asking: Why?

I actually started  writing poetry in primary school. It was not pretty. In secondary
school by colleauges , especially Alois Ponde,  and I started a poetry magazine, “Peacocks
and vultures.” I still have some poetry from that era. Over the years I have gradually
gone back to the source, to the ancestors and their poetic form, and back to Matonjeni.
My main area of interest  now is those genres of poetry from the Shona canon:
courtship poetry, madanha, jakwara, kusuma and so on. They must be brought back to
the forefront so that the younger generations make them part of their being again.

3. You are a medical doctor. Tell us a little about that.

In that respect wear two hats. I  am an Infectious Diseases specialist, and I teach medical
students and post-docs at a medical school. I still see patients. I wear another hat,
which is my passion for research. I have been using a lot of cutting edge techniques
(rather mouthful termed “microbial pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics”) and
mathematics to try and get at the problems of tuberculosis. Therapy currently takes 6 to
9 months, and I am involved in a movement that aims to reduce this therapy duration to
a few bearable weeks.  This is a very exciting area, given that tuberculosis is still the
most important infectious disease, and has had the dubious distinction of being declared
global emergency, up there with genocide and loose nukes!

4. So how do you connect poetry and your field; or how do you
make medicine work in harmony with poetry writing?

I think medical science, mathematics, and poetry are all really metaphors of life and
death. I mean, that is what is at the core of medicine and poetry, with mathematics
giving us a systematic quantitative way to describe and analyze. But in the end it is all
life and death, and the language we use is just a metaphor. In many instances poetry
gives better spiritual metaphors on being, where we came from why we are here, where
we are going, and why we should go there. We describe joy, and pain. Medicine of
course uses more obtuse language that has developed over the centuries as well. Here is
a metaphor, medicine would be to us as humans as the bones and sinews, mathematics
the speech and language, and poetry the spiritual, the dreams, love, honor, and loyalty.
All three are about us. In a way, they are like a set of three eyes.


5. Which poets have influenced you?

There are a number. I would say in Shona poetry I rather like the old timers, and really
love Mafukidze’s Hochekoche, and the collection of poetry by Majaya et al called Nduri
Dzerudo. I like Marechera’s poetry in terms of Africans writing in English, especially
the posthumous Cemetery of Mind. I should also say that the Persian poet, Mawlānā
Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, popularly known as RUMI has been a fascination of
mine. And finally, I love Wilfred Owen among the British poets. In terms of influence, I
would say the greatest influence in my poetry has come from the praise poetry of the
Shona people, especially as my own grandmother would recite and prance around. This
is of course common in Bantu cultures, as witness Imbongi in the Nguni traditions.
These left the most impression on me of any other poets.


6. One of the objectives of Munyori Poetry Journal is to function
as a home for poets from all over the world, to facilitate poetry
showcasing. Basically, we are a group of poets showing each
other our works in the presence of our readers? What do you
think is the importance of such displays of our talent even where
there is no monetary gain?

This is crucial. I believe that poems are not poems until they are recited. The strength of
the poem is in the words. You provide a forum for the vocalization of words. What are
words without sound? You provide a stage where singers can sing. There is no song
without singing. More importantly it is important for us to talk. This provides the forum
for poets all over the world to talk to one another in the language they understand the
most. This is crucial particularly for younger poets, because they can talk freely and we
will understand them. I have never thought poetry will make money. This is good. That
way, it has avoided the commercialization death that has put the novel in the intensive
care unit. It has kept this great gift from being another one of those airport books!

7.Tell us something about the concerns in your poetry? What else
do you write besides poetry?

My concerns are twofold. First, handing over cultural treasure of traditional literature
that our ancestors have entrusted to us. If we fail to pass it on, we betray thousands of
years of cultural development. In addition, given the state of my home country, I have
great concerns of freedom. In these heavy times we can lighten the burden of our
fellow men and women with verse, and remind them where we have come from, and
where we are going.

8.Munyori is giving you space to share some of your poetry on this
page.  Which ones would like to share and why?

I have many that I love, but I will recommend three or five from Songs for Flame Lily.
The first is “A boy’s song for the most hot sun”
The second is “!Marula”
The third is “What’s left of the day, my butterfly”
Then there is “The tom-tom”
And one to my children, “Remembering your parents”

9. Do you have anything else you want Munyori readers to know?

Yes. I will contribute a sequence for Munyori. Let the drummers begin.