Poet helps others write their way out of darkness
The links between poetry and emotional healing are ancient and strong.
As people across the world celebrated World Mental Health Day on October 10, the AVBOB Poetry Project paid tribute to the edgy, courageous poems of Rhodes University and UKZN alumnus Teamhw Sbongu Jesu, a poet from Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, whose second poetry collection, Slave was published by TNG (The New Generation) last year.
Jesu’s poems plumb the depths of despair, addiction and loneliness. He acknowledges that some people find his subject matter uncomfortable.
While the voice speaking in them is not necessarily his own, he admits that inner turmoil fuelled his writing process.
“Hopelessness is a feeling I have battled with, together with loneliness and isolation. I think inner turmoil is what keeps me writing. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have inner turmoil.”
Very often, what sustains him most is the writing of poetry and the dedication and energy it requires from him. In The Room, one of the most moving poems in the collection, he may have found the perfect image both for despair and for its antidote.
It describes a dark space without doors or windows, ceiling or foundation, but which is still recognisably a room. It ends:
“I can’t remember the way in, but I know the way out.” In this way, what starts as a record of turmoil becomes the map for a way out of the dark room. Jesu confirms that, for him, writing this book provided a source of courage and consolation.
“Writing gave me a break from dark thoughts, when I needed that break most. I was able to explain things better to myself through writing them down. Poetry can provide relief, understanding and selfawareness.”
In another poem, Epitaph, he imagines a world in which poems are loved and treasured so much that they are “written with strong ink and strong paint” and hung in public places: at cafes, pubs, hotels, in big frames at places of transit, and in the halls of government. The poem ends:
“And at the end, on every tombstone —
dead men’s favourite lines shall be engraved,
taken from their most loved poem.”
In such a world, poetry would be able to take our private dreams and honour them in spaces that are shared with others.
Jesu explains, “At first that wasn’t even a poem. I was simply telling poets and writers everywhere I went that we should make these things happen. Most writers still know me as a dreamer because of that. I was younger then.”
He has started turning this dream into a reality by starting TNG publishing company, dedicated to publishing and promoting the work of talented young writers from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“TNG is my everything. I have already discovered several talented poets and writers, and I am working day and night on their manuscripts. For now, there is no money to pay external editors, layout and cover artists and lack of funding could easily shut us down.”
In speaking about resources available to local poets, he singles out the AVBOB Poetry Project for its contribution. “It is creating great opportunities inside the poetry industry, while bringing back dignity to poetry as a relevant art form. May they continue and never stop.”
Visit Jesu’s Facebook page at teamhw.sbongujesu.9/ or email
Write a poem featuring a particular mood or state of mind that is powerfully present in your life. See if you can find the perfect image to embody it.
The annual AVBOB Poetry Competition opened on August 1 2023. Visit their website,