The Right Reverend Dean of St George’s Cathedral, Michael Weeder, who is also a serious jazz lover, outspoken critic against corruption and injustice and former columnist, has launched his second anthology of poetry.
The Promise of Memory was launched at the cathedral and online last week.
It is a follow-up to his debut anthology, Lockdown, Love & Lament (published in 2020), both inspired by the lockdown and its impact on the mental and spiritual well-being of South Africans.
Father Weeder, from Oranjezicht, says the collection focuses on that which has been lost and serves as a rallying call, to better nature.
“It attempts to express the resolve to raise the tattered flag of hope, while living life daily out of a consciousness, flowering from the wisdom of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who believes that ‘we can’t go to heaven alone’,” said Father Weeder.
“Our historical mandate is to rebuild out of a recognition that we all have, in one way another, contributed to the current malaise in our society.”
He said he believes that this collection dates back over many years and is focused on the theme of identity and the struggle for freedom.
“It is also located in a contemporary reality that recognises that ‘freedom isn’t free.’ That it came at a cost. We are still paying off a debt incurred by our martyrs. The Zuma years compelled a certain farewell to an innocence that facilitated deception and plundering of our future and undermining the quality of our lives in the present.”
Copies of The Promise of Memory cost R150 and are available to order via email at mweeder@mweb.co.za.
Romance reads reviewed