South African English poetry. A discussion on how hard it is to find the right words to convey our feelings

1. Hard to find
SINESIPO JOJO
***FROM MIND THE GAP 2023

2. Hard to
find

3. Are you someone who
knows how to handle
yourself during heated
situations?
Or do you get easily
provoked?
Are you someone that
can talk when you are
angry?
How do you react in a
confrontational / heated
situation?

4. The Poet
• Sinesipo Jojo
• born 1993 in the Eastern Cape (Port St Johns)
• She began writing while still at high school.
• She wrote this poem while studying
psychology at a university in Port Elizabeth.

5. Summary
• This poem is about words.
• Sometimes words come freely, (lines 1 -4)
• BUT (line 5)
• when we really need them, they are nowhere to be found.
They hide when we really need them.

6. • Line 1: highlights the abundance of words. Meaning words are
everywhere.
• Lines 2: Has one word only. “daily” Emphasizes the availability of words.
• Lines 2-4: Words are readily available, sometimes they are scarce when
triggered by emotions (passion or anger)
• The ellipsis after ‘provoked’ stresses the difficulty or frustration the
speaker experiences when words cannot come out.
• Provoked: stimulate or give rise to a strong or unwelcomed emotion in
someone. Deliberately make someone annoyed or angry.

7. • Lines 5-7: Continuation of ellipsis in these lines show hardening
and lack of understanding which is brought by scarcity of words
when needed.
• The heart (line 7) is a symbol of emotions and is personified to
represent someone in need.
• The poet is trying to understand why words keep escaping her
mind, while she is trying to write and express her anger/frustration.
• Lines 8-9: Personification of heart is extended as words continue
to hide or are unable to come out. The heart is made to experience
feelings just like humans.

8. • Lines 10-14: Words are compared to someone playing some sick game. The
twisted game makes the heart miserable. The heart metaphorically looks sad
through the glass windows as the raindrops slowly slide down gently. The
raindrops represent the speaker’s teardrops as they fall from her eyes. This
suggests that the speaker is deeply hurt by her inability to recall words.
• Line 10: Words are being personified by being able to play a game.
• Line 11- ‘heart looks’ is being personified as a human, to look out the window
and experience emotion.
• Class windows represent eyes, while the raindrops represent tears.
• Line 15: personification – words are being personified to be able to think and feel
like woman, to feel emotions.

9. Lines 1-4
• 1. Words are everywhere
• 2. daily
• 3. we read them, and they fly out
• 4. like nobody’s business when we are
provoked…
Stanza 1
indicates abundance,
words are all over
escape/ leave
great
intensity/amount
The speaker highlights the
abundance of words.
• one word
• WHY?
• To emphasize
(availability of
words every
day)
Ellipses:
stresses the difficulty/frustration that the speaker
experiences when words cannot come out.
In Lines 1 – 4 the poet describes how words sometimes come freely.
trigger/ prompt a feeling (passion/anger)
hyperbole
contrast

10. Line 5
• 5. but there’s always something hard to understand…
• Another ellipses
• Shows the hardness
and lack of understanding
• Brought by the scarcity of
words when needed

11. Lines 6-9
6. they are hard to find
7. when they are needed by the heart;
8. when the heart feels,
9. words hide like they are not part of life.
words
• a symbol of emotion
• It is personified to
represent someone in
need.
• Personified
• Heart is to experience
feelings just like humans
•Extend
personification
• Hide  to conceal

12. Lines 10 - 14
10. While words are busy playing some twisted game
11. my heart looks sadly through the glass windows
12. as the raindrops slowly slide down, gently
13. on a cloudy lifetime,
14. hoping that one day,
extend personification;(lines 8-10)
‘heart feels’, ‘words hide’ the heart is made to experience
feelings as if human and words are unable to come out. Words
are described as ‘busy playing some twisted game’
personification
in which the
heart is depicted
as depressed
The raindrops represent the
speaker’s teardrops as they fall
from her eyes. This suggests that
the speaker is deeply hurt by her
inability to recall words
The heart metaphorically looks sad
creates a sad mood/ atmosphere,
the word ‘cloudy’ indicates
something darkened by gloom or
anxiety
brings a little optimism or hope that words will become
aware of/ clearly understand what the speaker’s heart
wants. The heart wants to write poetry.
Sick / evil
Move smoothly/glide

13. Line 15
15. . words will realize what my heart wants to say.
• understand clearly/ become
aware

14. themes
Disappointment
• The speaker highlights the abundance of words
through daily interactions (reading).
• The problem starts when emotions are triggered
then words escape the speaker’s mind.
• The speaker is disappointed at her inability to
recall words.
• The disappointment is further explained in the
personification of the heart which feels the
sadness as words continue to escape.
• The speaker’s frustration is portrayed when words
are described as hiding and playing ‘twisted’
game.
Hope/ Patience
• The speaker has faith that one day words will
discover what she wants to do, that is, write
poetry.
• This brings a glimpse of hope that words will
flood her thoughts to produce some piece of
writing/poetry.
• With time and patience words will no longer
escape her thoughts.

15. Tone and mood
Sad and sombre
• the speaker is disappointed by the fact that she
cannot express her feelings.
• Words just escape her mind when she needs to use
them
Hopeful
• (in the last 2 lines): the speaker expresses a wish
that words will one day become aware of what
his/her her heart wants to say.