One of my favorite spoken word poets is Q Malewezi. Before we go any further, please Google him and listen or watch his work. Trust me you will be thanking me later for the plug. You will also understand why this blog is basically bragging rights about working with Q and his team on personal poems for my children. It was and still is one of those highlights from this COVID era.
I first came across his work after reading posts from a couple of friends on Facebook. I wondered why the name of this Malawian spoken word poet kept popping up on my feed. Then I decided to look him up. Oh boy did YouTube deliver. I must have watched everything I could come across online that day. And just like that I became a loyal fan. When his People album came out, I must have been among the first five hundred to get it. I thanked God for Google play and for the Malawian artists who decide to share the work through that medium and other similar ones. It allows us in the diaspora to easily support their work.
I would put his poetry on repeat, much like I do music or a podcast while I work. The more I listened, the more I realised that I wanted to frame some of the nuggets of wisdom he shares for my children. Especially if they came from the poem that shares some life advice to his daughter.
So when I saw his post on Instagram about a project he was working on where they were would custom make a poem and print it on canvas for you. I DID not hesitate. I DIDN’T think of the logistics of how to get that here. I just reached out.
First, the response rate did not disappoint. I expressed my interest and my situation. Q himself was responding to me with such speed. We set up a call. Q and his team listened to me go on and on about my babies. They drafted and let little old me comment on these verses that ably captured my children in a way I, their mother, could not. I felt blessed.
The result was these amazing poems that perfectly reflect my children while inspiring them to grow into their God given purpose. The poems are a true reflection of the unique beings each of them is and how despite not living in Malawi, they are rooted in Malawi.
Then came the little matter of getting the canvas here. I have had several bad experiences with the Malawi Post Office. That’s a blog post for another day. Q proposed sending me PDFs that I can print here. And thats what we did. I didn’t do it on canvas, I put them on mixtiles instead. They came out beautifully. The beauty of it is I can always put them on canvas whenever I decide to.
My children who hold Malawi so close to their hearts are so proud of their poems. They not only got an answer to an example of a poet from their home country, they got custom made poems from him. I enjoy explaining the Malawian references to them. It’s always a #proudmalawi moment
Pieces of Home 