My Pain, Your Pain: Poetry From The Heart

By Ambrose Bruce Chimbganda

My Pain, Your Pain is a scintillating book consisting of fifty two poems that are written from the bottom of the heart. The poems cover a range of themes such as human pain, oppression, suffering, nature’s lamentations, African consciousness and whispering voices. The poems are living experiences about the trials and tribulations of mankind in our contemporary world; and in some ways portray a pathetic lack of restrain in our power relations.

No doubt some of the poems prick our conscience, evoke our sense of guilt, court our sympathy, raise our levels of consciousness, shake the very foundations of our values, and at the same time give us hope in the midst of despair. The book is thoroughly captivating, ensnaring and intoxicating, which breathes fresh air in a world fixated on science and technology. This is a powerful work of art which readers must experience in their life time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781638298557

Ambrose Bruce Chimbganda

Ambrose Bruce Chimbganda was born in Goromonzi, in the north-east of Zimbabwe, where he completed his primary education, and later went to Hartzell Secondary School, near Mutare. After completing his “O” and “A” levels, he went to the University of Zambia, where he obtained a B.A.Ed., with distinction. He later obtained a post-graduate diploma and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Zimbabwe, an M.Sc. in ELT Management with merit from Surrey University in the UK, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Rhodes University in South Africa. He is a professor of English Language Education, and has published many research papers in international journals on ESL learning and teaching, and is the winner of the 2007 Thomas Pringle Award of the English Academy of Southern Africa.

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About the Author

Ambrose Bruce Chimbganda was born in Goromonzi, in the north-east of Zimbabwe, where he completed his primary education, and later went to Hartzell Secondary School, near Mutare. After completing his O and A levels, he went to the University of Zambia, where he obtained a B.A.Ed., with distinction. He later obtained a post-graduate diploma and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Zimbabwe, an M.Sc. in ELT Management with merit from Surrey University in the UK, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Rhodes University in South Africa. He is a professor of English Language Education, and has published many research papers in international journals on ESL learning and teaching, and is the winner of the 2007 Thomas Pringle Award of the English Academy of Southern Africa.

Copyright Information ©

Ambrose Bruce Chimbganda 2023

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Ordering Information

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Publisher’s Cataloguing-in-Publication data

Chimbganda, Ambrose Bruce

My Pain, Your Pain

ISBN 9781638298540 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781638298557 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022915089

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

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Foreword

Over many years of teaching English as a first and second language, I have heard rumbling voices by some teachers and students that poetry is ‘ritualistic’, ‘difficult’, ‘opaque’, ‘hidden’, ‘archaic’, ‘boring’ and other similar remarks. This viewpoint seems to arise from the fact that the type of poetry taught in many high schools and universities, particularly those institutions in which English is used as a second or additional language, is culturally ‘alien’ or is far removed from the lived experiences of both the teacher and the student.

To tackle this problem, the poems in this book are about real experiences in our modern world, covering themes such as human pain, suffering and oppression. The poems under African Consciousness are intended to restore the pride and dignity of an African people who have been dehumanized by colonization and slavery. Similarly, the poems under Nature’s Lamentations are intended to prick our conscience on how we relate with other creatures that share with us this beautiful planet; while those under Whispering Voices’ express the feelings, thoughts and aspirations of men and women throughout the world irrespective of their race or creed.

The poems in this book are intended for study at the upper end of high school and university. Individual adults from different social backgrounds are most likely going to find the poems scintillating because they deal with universal issues affecting mankind.

In studying the poems, the main pedagogical approach is for readers to derive maximum pleasure by listening and reading aloud each poem so that poetry can be spoken like any other form of speech. Each poem should be treated like a song to be sung aloud because if the student does not hear the music of the poem, it is likely to lose its meaning. The teacher or lecturer should therefore allow each student to read or memorise aloud some or whole parts of the poem, paying attention to the rhythm of the lyrics. Students can also recite or read the poems on radio and television, during public events such as national or independence celebrations, graduation ceremonies, national poetry competitions or during prize giving sessions.

As individuals or in small groups, students should discuss what they see as the ‘meaning’ of the poem, the ‘complex ideas’ embedded, the ‘subtle meanings’ and the ‘figurative language’ which purifies the golden voice of the poem. In order to encourage personal development, the teacher or lecturer should act as a facilitator who inspires the students to be animated by posing penetrating questions that lead to the exploration of the poem. For this reason, there is no right or wrong answer; but each student should be stimulated to give an intellectual view that demonstrates a deep engagement with the poem,