Weeping Becomes a River

by Siphokazi Jonas

Siphokazi Jonas is a weaver of seemingly discordant worlds; growing up in an Afrikaans dorpie, attending an English boarding school, and going on annual holidays to a village emaXhoseni during the transition years of South Africa’s democracy made this a necessity.
In Weeping Becomes a River she confronts the linguistic and cultural alienation experienced as a black learner in former Model C schools in the 1990s and early 2000s, then fashions the fragments to reclaim and rewrite her place within a lineage of storytellers.
Migrating between forms, between poetry and intsomi, she navigates the waters of tradition, religion, intergenerational experiences of rural and urban spaces, and the ways in which family dynamics affect the body. She is not only a referee of the raging tensions within her, but she also pieces together a language for pathways of leaving and returning.
Her poems grapple with the past, the present, and possible futures without forgetting that “the body is marked territory from birth, and the scent of it never leaves”.

Genres: Poetry

84 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2024

Reviews

[Diana Boynton · Rating 5 out of 5]

unique writing and wild book structure. Each chapter, words so carefully selected, reaches a climax and then boom it stops and I am faced with thought provoking verse before returning to the story and onto the next climax. As a white South African who grew up in the old Transkei the settings and stories were so relatable but oh so challenging. My head is spinning. Stumbling on the book at a fun launch a few days ago was fate. This book has earned a special place on my bookshelf.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know very little about poetry, but these poems have a way to speak to your heart and evoke poignant images. They are relatable yet foreign, hers but also sometimes mine.

Thank you for writing this.