Thirty-eight years ago, I was a 19-year-old headed to Lesotho, a starkly beautiful, mountainous country in southern Africa. Under the auspices of Operation Crossroads Africa, I-3rd from the right- and a motley crew of wide-eyed college students, Carla Boykin- 2nd from left, including our leader who was an African-American Rhodes Scholar-made our way across southern Africa, starting with Lesotho and moving on to apartheid South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and a spanking, brand new Zimbabwe, -what stories we have- and thus began my love affair with Africa; a wonderfully vast, diverse and endless source for storytelling.
That winter trip was about getting me to South Africa, a place I had become obsessed with because of literature-Bessie Head, Nadine Gordimer, Athol Fugard, Dennis Brutus… But, the beginning of that journey started with Lesotho, a place, though rich in its own cultural history, was deeply affected by apartheid. That long winter, so long ago, I learned, especially roaming the hills of Thaba Tseka on horseback, meeting all sorts of intriguing people, how important it is to connect to the world and bring the stories of its people to each other. That’s what Lesotho taught me!
All of this reminiscing brings me to a special gentleman and poet Mr.Rethabile Masilo, who has graciously featured two of my poems, from Praise Song for the Gravediggers, on his literary blog Poéfrika, as part of my virtual book tour. Mr. Masilo is from Lesotho and now lives in France. I find it, indeed, poetic that a connection to Lesotho, which is the source that really propelled me on my literary journey as both a reader and a writer would offer a platform for me to share my work. The poems presented here are not informed by my southern African sojourn, but are rooted particularly in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Please discover Rethabile Masilo’s work and his blog as well.
