malawi

Nectar,

soft magic, &

a fire like you

Poetry by upile chisala

Upili Chisala identifies not only as a writer, but as a storyteller. Born in 1994 in Zomba in Malawi, Chisala is a child of her time, seemingly at home on social media where she has an easy, authentic presence, and happy to share herself—sad, happy, struggling, successful, vulnerable, and alive.

In an article on The National News website, Chisala recounts how, when she was 15, she discovered a list on the internet of the 100 best books ever written. She read some of them and inspired, began to write her own stories, which she shared with her father. “He was like, ‘You’re not in any of these stories. People who look like you aren’t in any of these stories,’” she says. “But people who look like me were not on that list. I thought that [list] was the standard, that you have to write like these people. It was an important moment in my life. I stopped and said, ‘Why don’t I write about myself?’”

And so she does. Her poetry is short yet powerful and despite only being in her twenties, Chisala manages to capture and articulate universal ideas in the succinct specificity of her poetic style. She’s written three collections of poetry that, if read in isolation, can seem more like aphorisms than fully-formed poems. It’s hard to resist comparing Chisala’s work to Rupi Kaur (a poet with marmite tastes - you either love her or hate her,) who is famous for her pithy, single line observations of love, life, and everything, but Chisala’s work seems more considered to me. It’s true that each poem can be read as a short sharp standalone observation, but as part of each collection, they emerge as something whole and complete. Part of a deeper contemplation through which common themes emerge, are explored, and beautifully described.

Themes such as mental health: "If the depression comes back/ tell it I won't go/ even if it asks for me by name."

And self-acceptance: “Every time I mean to write about my body, I laugh/ How can someone be so un-in-love with this/ luscious, overflowing/ Concoction of thigh/ And dark, desirable things?/ How can that someone be me?/ How dare I!”

And womanhood, “Girl,/ who taught you to be so silent?/ To fold your tongue back into your mouth so neatly?”

In which the politics of gender issues are captured a single, simple line: “Please/ Feed your sons the same softness you feed your daughters.”

Mostly, Chisala writes about and celebrates her Blackness: "I am dripping melanin and honey/ I am black without apology."

“If you find yourself very black and very tired,/ Very tired and very black,/ Very women and very black and very tired,/ Rest, and mean it.”

These are books you can keep at your bedside and dip into for moments of wisdom every morning.

“All the lovely women living in your blood/ are trying to teach you their soft magic,/ please pay attention to them.”