What is the first image that pops into your head when you hear the word “poet”? For many, it is a solitary, forlorn-looking person in a poorly lit room.
 
But throughout recorded history, there have been poets who challenged and disrupted this all-too-serious image of what a poet should be.
 
Following South Africans’ celebration of the International Day of Older Persons on 1 October, the AVBOB Poetry Project pays tribute to the exceptional life and work of Gus Ferguson (1940-2020), poet, cartoonist and publisher, who was an elder and inspiration to generations of local poets. As the publisher of Snailpress, he helped launch the careers of many local poets, old and young, many of whom are well-known today. In the process, he quietly helped to create a community of poets and readers who were transformed by each others’ work.
 
As a publisher, Gus knew that the existence of such a community was essential to the continued writing of poetry and often lamented that more people did not attend readings or buy books. He once joked that a poetry reading, by definition, is a performance in which the participants outnumber the audience.
 
But for Gus, the point was never to feel sorry for the poets on the stage but to bridge the gap between them and their audience. Sometimes, he would write in the voice of an older, self-assured poet who felt under-appreciated. The results could be hilarious, as in his poem ‘The Cape Town Laureate Speaks’:
 
“Too much is made of the mountain, 
The wine, the crime, the sea,
The waterfront and the Island,
But not enough of me.”
 
We might sympathise with the neglected poet, but most readers would probably agree that he would be happier among other people – feeling less important but more connected.
 
In one particularly lovely poem, ‘Walls of Redwing’ (named after an early song by Bob Dylan), the outside world intrudes with hilarious consequences. Gus pictures himself intoning poems to a class of Grade 5 boys:
 
“I mentioned love. I spoke of death
And resurrection in one breath.
I read from Blake. I read from Frost.
I waxed profound. The kids got lost.”
 
Instead, the children’s attention is captured by two starlings that fly into the classroom, to everyone’s delight. We are meant to agree with the children: the birds are more engaging than the serious lecture.
 
It is clear from the poem how deeply Gus thought about what it means to be a teacher, to impart the kind of knowledge and wisdom we expect from elders. By treating that position with humility and humour, he plants a seed of longing in us for an intergenerational community in which poets from all walks of life, whether they are established or inexperienced, can benefit and learn from each other’s work.
 
It is in this spirit of inclusivity that the AVBOB Poetry Project was founded seven years ago. By running its annual poetry competition in all of South Africa’s official written languages and hosting an online archive showcasing thousands of poems, it has created a platform on which poets and readers from across South Africa can share their experience and remember that they are not alone.
 
In the next few days, write a poem that describes a moment when your life changed because of the influence of an elder or an inspiring teacher.
 
Visit the AVBOB Poetry website at www.avbobpoetry.co.za today and be amazed by the breadth and depth of experience reflected in the Poem library’s archive of more than 22 000 poems.