Unshaken by the shekels of norms brought by ancient men to strip her out of opportunity, ideas, and inventions. Her bravery has broken chains put on her hands and feet. She continues to change all the odds of roles presented to her. Today I crossed paths with a woman, she has the beauty of Esther and the boldness of Deborah. She is a woman of virtue. she is dangerously perfect. A moment of fear crept in because I wondered if a woman like her could spare me a minute.
This is part of Iyana (born Zulu Masuku)’s prose “Today I met a Woman“. Zulu says the prose is about a man praising a woman.
“My admiration for women in general in all their forms and their strengths inspired this piece,” the 20-year old poet commented on the prose.
It is a reminder of how women have suffered at the hands of the patriarchal society especially as the world celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March 2022. The prose reminds us that women have to be strong in order to bypass the ceilings given by society. To this date, the world has always branded women who manage to break through such ceilings as dangerous.
Today I Met a Woman will be in Iyana’s book Naked Paragraphs, a book that ventures into grief, love, joy, and solace.
The Bulawayo-based artist, who is planning to launch her first book no later than August this year, says Naked Paragraphs is just another dimension for readers to see the female’s point of view of the world around.
“Basically they are just poems and prose’s about different situations that we go through and the things we often think about when it comes to those situations we rarely speak out about. Hence I go in the form of a woman, man, victim, lover, monster …and speak out my thoughts about the situations these protagonists are in,” explained Zulu.
“I have poured a part of myself into the book, hoping for someone to know that the emotions they face due to circumstances they are in are perfectly normal and that it’s okay to feel not okay; it’s okay to welcome different emotions.”
Zulu says she comes from a family of artists. The source of her inspiration for poetry is her sister who is also a poet, and her father too.
Iyana also aspires to be a photographer and a writer.
Two years into poetry, Iyana’s message to other aspiring female writers is on how simple writing can be.
“Take your pen and paper and write everything your feeling. Even if it feels like it doesn’t make sense. I am Sure in its own way it will be a beautiful piece,” she said.
Zulu’s IWD message is
“Never forget your worth; You are worth more than words can fathom. Never forget that.”
