Beautiful Johannesburg trees inspire poet to pen award winning poems

Africa is often regarded as the cradle of mankind.

But in the midst of that cradle lies an aura of natural beauty that is constantly under threat of extinction due to deforestation and changing climatic conditions.

Environmentalists have warned that humans are slowly creating ‘man made deserts’.

Tsitsi Gore never learnt to drive and thus doesn’t own a drivers licence. She either walks or takes public transport. During her walking escapades, she passes through serene streets lined with beautiful exotic trees.

For her, those trees aren’t just a part of nature, they are her poetic source of inspiration. Her poetry is as beautiful as hibiscus flowers and as strong as a pine bark.

‘There is energy in those trees and that energy is desperately looking for a new path. Whenever i walk past them, i feel like they are talking to me. While they are a massively abundant source of shade and shelter, they inspire me so much to write beautiful poems,’ said Gore.

Gore composes all her poetry while walking. The trees cling onto her poetry lines like baby scorpions. The diminishing trees spark up wounds in her work.

‘My energy shrinks whenever i see man chopping down trees. Much work needs to be done in educating people about conversation. So much has been said yet so little done to conserve those trees. ‘

But she remains adamant that the future generations will be able to save the trees.

For now, her focus is on crafting great poetry inspired by the Johannesburg trees. Armed with her pen and notebook, she strolls through the Johannesburg streets at least twice a month for that dosage of inspiration.

‘Trees will forever be a huge part of my life because of the artistic motivation they spring into my life. Without them, my poetry career wouldn’t have kicked off,’ she added.