David Chislett's Poetry from South Africa

I would like to welcome a guest blogger from a thousand plus miles away. David Chislett is a very versatile writer and speaker, and it is a pleasure to have him as a guest today.

Poetry from Johannesburg, South Africa

My name is David Chislett and I am a poet. Well, a writer all round really, but most recently I published a collection of my poetry. I live in Johannesburg in South Africa. Right now, it is snowing. It’s not supposed to here, but there you go!

I have been writing poetry since 1981 but never really thought much about doing anything else with it other than write. Then in 2001 I created a series of short story books for unknown writers here in South Africa and by 2010, I had another 4 books out. Suddenly, it seemed like time to publish my poems.

The book is called For You Or Someone Like You and it consists of 90 poems. The 90 were selected from about 250 poems that I wrote and posted on Facebook over and 18 month period. As such, there is no overall subject or theme for this collection. Rather it is a window into my life and mind at a specific period of time.

Broadly speaking however, I deal with ideas and issues around identity, meaning and purpose in my writing. These I explore either as internal landscapes or by reflecting on the natural world around me.

I grew up during Apartheid in South Africa, did military service here, voted for freedom in our 1^st democratic elections, have travelled extensively and studied further. Being a New South African has given me an interesting and unique perspective on life and I like to think my poetry reflects this.

I am a serial entrepreneur as well as writer and as a result I have gone the self-publishing route with my last 2 books (including this one) This means I can do all sorts of cool things with my books. If you visit www.foryouorsomeonelikeyou.com you will see what I mean!

One of these cool things was to get a group of established song-writers here in South Africa to take a poem each and turn it into a song which I have released on an album as a limited edition, web-sale only value-add to the book. As you can see, it’s all set up with PayPal so you can buy from anywhere in the world and I will send to anywhere too!

I also have my own website for all the other stuff I get up to which you can find at www.davidchislett.co.za

But enough of me talking about me, here is a sample of my work. One of the poems you’ll find in For You Or Someone Like You

Walking God At Emmerentia

Speaking in tongues

Among the burning hot bushes

My eyes skate across the mirrors

Of three still lakes

The highveld sky

Arches overhead

In purple greyness

Jacaranda blooms reaching skywards

From beds of verdant green

Atop this grass

I see the city’s reaches

Towers piercing heaven

The multitude of voices

I cannot understand

Reflect my inner turmoil

As I walk these red dirt paths

Watch the dogs and their owners play

The cogs of mind joggle

Find the right gears

Something inside my heart

Burns easier

A firm hand upon

Racing emotions descends

And I feel I am in control again

I swear the lake winks at me

I head back under the trees

Toward my car

The life I am carving

A message remains

From a green and blue reverie

That the living is the story

The rest will come right alone.

You can buy the book at www.foryouorsomeonelikeyou.com