PROFILE
Kennan Pedro lives in the Southern suburbs of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. He is a second year student at the University of Western Cape, studying English literature and philosophy. Kennan started to develop a love for poetry in the sixth grade and has continued to write poetry over the years. He plans to finish his degree and travel abroad to teach English and experience different cultures.
CREATIVE WORK
Stigma
Stuck in a concept of time.
A hammer in search of a nail.
Bound by society,
a chain of seven billion links
Too strong to sever this invisible bond.
We look at the bigger picture,
Too concerned with the frame
In which the picture lies.
We are our own construct,
Limited
by our own minds.
The only freedom we will ever know,
Lies behind the imagination
of reality.
To liberate society,
Is to free yourself.
REFLECTION
Stigma in this instance, refers to the negative qualities attached to being human in our modern society. It explores the fact that our own minds are what prevent us from breaking free of the stigma. The first stanza looks at time, which is a concept we cannot free ourselves from and the fact that we are our own solution to a problem we are not fully aware of. The first stanza and the last stanza both have two lines because they are connected. The first stanza is in search of an answer and the last stanza answers that question (we find the nail). The second stanza looks at society being what bounds us from being free but similarly it keeps us linked to each other. Words such as bound, chain, links and bond emphasise this point. The third stanza looks at self reflection. The “bigger picture ” is a construct of our minds and what we perceive. The last line of that stanza tells us that the picture is a lie. The forth stanza’s vocal point is the line “limited”. It has two meanings, one being that we are limited in our minds and the way we think and the other being that we are limited in a sense that we are unique. The fifth stanza looks to offer insight. Freedom is in our imagination and reality is the lie (our imagination moulds our reality). The final stanza can have its two lines interchanged and still hold the same meaning because as much as the individual is bound by society, society is made up of individuals. We are liberated from within.
