Charles Mugoshi's Tree's

The Trees

BY Mungoshi Charles

In their nakedness
The winter trees laugh
At our inability
To shed clothes
Of our past seasons



The imagery is provoking. It is amazing how Mungoshi achieves what he has in five short lines. Mungoshi is known to address two main themes in his works; significance of life and a fascination with time. I believe this work of art addresses both themes quite effortlessly and it does so in characteristically what critiques describe as ‘nihilistic’ Mugoshi treatment of themes. The language used aggravates the readers’ corporeal sense in a reflective feel (‘in their nakedness/ the winter trees laugh’). It makes a mockery of our humanity and the susceptibility to our own humanity. It is very suggestive, it’s as if saying that trees know a secret that we don’t yet it is natural that way, like it was meant to be that way. The reader is left asking whether we can learn from these winter trees.
I reiterate that this poet has achieved a lot in this poem and can prove quite hard to completely work through it to a proper conclusion.
Not bad for someone whose mother told ‘I’d wish you’d burn your library’, apparently most parents this part of the hemisphere don’t consider writing as a career choice for their children. In an interview, the Zimbabwean confesses that loneliness growing up probably led him to being a career writer. His short poems have been compared to those of the English bard, Thomas Hardy who also provoked reflection on meaning and value of life.