Poets pay homage to mother earth

In the spirit of commemorating World Earth Day, the Avbob poetry project was inundated with moving pieces dedicated to our planet.

From the piles of poetry received, Avbob selected the top 3 winners of its Eco-poetry mini-competition, all of whom walked away with cash prizes.

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Chief judge Johan de Lange said this round of the competition was by far the most successful since the competition’s inception in 2020.

‘At any given time, in some corner of the world, we hear catastrophic news: typhoons ravaging towns, wildfires, landslides and floods, droughts and extinctions, snow falling where it shouldn’t, and the melting polar caps,’ said De Lange.

‘The language of poetry speaks eloquently to loss and grief, as well as joy and renewal. As poets, we can all strive to converse more deeply about nature, the way scientists do with their facts and evidence,’ he added.

Competition winner was Retshepisitswe ‘Promise’ Makhatha from the Eastern Cape, with his poem entitled ‘Mama is terminal‘.

Second place with ‘Women of prayer’ went to Nkululeko Zondi who is an HIV/Aids educator at the City of Johannesburg Municipality and an

Occupational Journalism student at Fray College of Communications.

Achieving third place was Sue Woodward from Muizenberg, with her piece entitled, ‘I escape the city‘.

The sixth annual Avbob Poetry Competition opens on 1 August and offers cash prizes of R10 000 in each language category.

Visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za for information on how to participate.

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