International poet to release second anthology

MBOMBELA – Bilkis Moola will release The Ebb and Flow of Love as soon as the current lockdown regulations allow for it. The book has already been published by Poets Printery, of Amitabh Mitra, a well-known author, orthopaedic surgeon and artist from the Eastern Cape.

Moola moved to Mbombela at the beginning of 2017. “Being from a small town like Volksrust, and having to relocate to a city was difficult. I had to look for a place to stay, I endured a burglary and ended up moving twice more before settling in my current apartment.”

Moola first visited Mbombela, after her first anthology, Wounds and Wings: The Lyrical Self Through Metaphor was published. “Poets from Mpumalanga who had been published were recording at the SABC studios. I drove all the way to recite and record three poems.”

She said the Lowveld is now finally starting to feel like home, in her fourth year. “I like Mbombela; people are pleasant and friendly. Wherever I’ve moved to, I’ve been able to make friends. My next-door neighbour immediately introduced himself to me, and as I’m not particularly handy with drilling holes and anything that requires mechanics or technology, he’s been a lot of help.

I also have a friend a few doors away. I’m developing a sense of community.”There was a time when I was so afraid of travelling on these roads and I didn’t know where I was going to and now it’s familiar to me. I no longer need Google Maps, I know landmarks, and I’m growing comfortable moving around.”

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Moola is currently professionally based in KaNyamazane as a senior education specialist for the Mpumalanga Department of Education, Ehlanzeni District. She acts as a subject adviser. “I go to schools, help to monitor teachers, and I also deliver workshops and conduct events.”

Previously, she taught at Valencia Combined before applying for her current position. Poetry is her passion.
“It’s my expression of personal growth, not only for me but general thematically, how it would appeal to other people.

I write because I enjoy working with words: I enjoy using imagery, metaphors and similes, personification, the usual that we were taught at school. The irony of it is that I found poetry extremely difficult at school and university. English was my major. I’m amazed that I write poetry now and that I’m published.”

Moola is a published author in the United States. “I was delighted. I had to submit three poems, of which one was selected to be published in In So Many Words: A Collection of Interviews And Poetry from Today’s Poets.

‘The sensory fairground’ was published and I was asked for an interview, which was added to the book. I managed to order the book via Amazon. The simple idea that my poetry is being read in America, in this book and also in publications such as the Indiana Voice Journal is mind-boggling.”

Her hobbies included reading, and spending time in the kitchen. “I like to think of them as my culinary adventures,” she said. She also enjoys music, cinema nouveau and birding.

“I keep thinking of Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez and the plagues that have tormented people throughout history.

At the moment, we have a plague: we’re all being tortured emotionally and physically. There’s a sense of mistrust when you meet people – no hugging close friends and even at malls, you find people so afraid. They’re empty as the empty streets.

News is dominant with Covid-19 and I feel to launch poetry, an anthology during this time on love, might and hopefully create within people a sense of being human again because love is essentially what everybody seeks.”
If anyone is interested in buying The Ebb and Flow of Love, they can contact Moola via email at bilkismoola@yahoo.com.

The book costs R165 and can be couriered if necessary. She also mentions that if residents of Mbombela would like to purchase the book, that she will personally deliver it.

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