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Inside/Out with Outspoken, Zimbabwe's fusion word poet
Kubatana.net
August 19, 2009

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Full interview with Outspoken - Read and listen

Describe yourself in five words?
Self-discovery, peace, understanding, truth, oneness.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Try to seek and understand yourself and never stop doing what you do.

What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever done?
I think I've purposefully and mentally blocked out that memory.

What is your most treasured possession?
I would say the life of my family and friends; having life around me.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The lowest depth of misery is not realising that there is always something that you should look at and be proud of and smile at. I mean if you are alive that's a start! You cannot be miserable because you have your life to begin with, regardless of what you are caught up in.

Do you have any strange hobbies?
I cook - is that strange? No, no strange hobbies, not one.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Ah nothing, nothing nditori bho. Now this is actually part of my area of focus. It's like having people understanding that your speciality lays in you being different from the next person. So all those things you read in the magazine about be like Farrah Fawcett or whatever, I'm against that. Against television saying skinny, light skinned women and masculine brothers. I'm not saying don't be healthy but appreciate yourself coz beauty truly lies within.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Foam bath coz bath time is when I get to be in touch with my spirit. It's "me" time. With a hectic schedule the only time I am not working is when I'm bathing; it's like self-cleansing.

What have you got in your fridge?
Yogurt, lettuce, sauces . . . yah khiya khiya

What is your greatest fear?
Not having enough time to achieve what I hope to achieve.

What have you got in your pockets right now?
An MP3 player with my music and bootleg music of others. Cellular phone, some fake notes that I will be distributing to unsuspecting members of society, my wallet and business cards.

What is your favourite journey?
My favourite journey is discovering myself like those moments I realise how similar I am to my father or brother or people around me. Like how some times we can finish each others sentences with my close friends. For me that's a true journey not the physical but more of what I tune to be the spiritual.

Who are your heroes in real life?
My mother, my father, my brothers . . . people I see everyday. I won't say the average person but that special person you never take time to consider to be special.

When and where were you happiest?
I am not one of those people that consider events to be where I become happy. I see my life as a constant event. So I have never gauged happiness. I just appreciate and if you appreciate something grows. So my happiness is ever growing.

What's your biggest vice?
I think I am still living in the denial stage of my vice. Ah maybe its sleep. I am lazy as much as I am hard working. My counter balance is that I am super lazy. I will procrastinate to the last minute and then put so much effort into something.

What were you like at school?
I hope there are no Ellis Robins Boys or Avondale primary people reading. I was funny; I was out to have a good time. Questioning, always in trouble. There was a time in high school when my teacher said if I wasn't in the noisemakers list it was illegitimate. Yah I would rather have fun than to cause aggravation to any one.

What are you doing next?
I'm going home and heating up my leftovers and having lunch.

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